mm 

^" 


PRESENT    CHURCH     EDIFICE, 
Dedicated  April  23,   1856. 


Centennial  Memorial 


— OF    THE — 


FIRST  BAPTIST  CHURCH 


— OF — 


HARTFORD,  CONNECTICUT, 


March  23d  and  24th,  1890. 


HARTFORD : 
PRESS  OF  CHRISTIAN  SECRETARY. 


"  The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with  our  fathers." 

/  Kings  vtii.  57. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  memorial  volume  was  prepared  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Centennial  Committee  of  the  church.  It  is 
intended  partly  to  be  a  souvenir  of  the  very  pleasant 
centennial  celebration,  and  partly  to  present  in  perma- 
nent form,  for  the  friends  of  the  church,  some  of  the  more 
important  and  more  interesting  elements  of  the  first 
hundred  years  of  its  history. 

The  addresses  of  Messrs.  Howard,  Stone,  Bronson, 
Wheeler,  Dimock  and  Barbour,  delivered  at  the  celebra- 
tion without  notes,  were  stenographically  reported,  and 
are  given  here  substantially  as  they  were  spoken,  with 
slight  revision  at  the  hands  of  the  several  speakers. 
The  other  addresses  are  reproduced  from  the  manuscripts 
of  the  authors.  The  historical  sermon  of  Dr.  Sage  was 
prepared  without  opportunity  for  any  verification  of  facts 
by  reference  to  records.  The  doctor's  memory,  however, 
seems  to  have  served  him  accurately  and  well.  It  need 
scarcely  be  added  that  each  speaker  is  himself  responsible 
for  his  own  words,  and  shares  that  responsibility  neither 
with  the  committee  or  the  church. 

The  Historical  Sketch,  down  to  the  close  of  Mr. 
Eaton's  pastorate,  is  largely  an  abridgment  of  Dr.  Turn- 
bull's  Memorial  Discourse,  delivered  in  the  spring  of 
1856.  Important  additions,  however,  have  been  made 
from  other  sources.  The  biographical  sketch  of  Mr. 
Grew,  the  second  pastor,  was  kindly  furnished  by  his 
honored  daughter,  Miss  Mary  Grew,  of  Philadelphia; 
that  of  Mr.  Grosvenor,  the  third  pastor,  by  Mr.  Cyrus  P. 
Grosvenor  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  The  sketches 


4  PREFACE. 

of  Dr.  Sears,  Dr.  Jackson  and  Mr.  Eaton,  have  been 
considerably  enlarged.  Whatever  relates  to  the  last 
forty-five  years  was  prepared  especially  for  this  volume. 
The  official  records  of  the  church,  supplemented  by  files 
of  many  sorts  of  documents  and  the  testimony  of  many 
living  witnesses,  constitute  the  sources  for  this  material. 
Important  information  has  been  given  especially  by  Miss 
Maria  L.  Savage,  Mrs.  Maria  F.  Chapman  and  Miss 
Mary  Page,  all  of  whom  were  baptized  by  Dr.  Jackson 
in  1838.  The  Roll  of  Membership  as  given  is  supposed 
to  be  substantially  correct  down  to  August  ist,  1890, 
with  all  losses  after  January  ist,  1890,  noted  at  the  close. 

The  electrotypes  of  the  first  and  second  church  edifices 
are  used  by  permission  of  Elihu  Geer's  Sons  of  Hartford. 
The  portraits  presented  include  several  living  members 
of  the  church  who  have  been  in  its  fellowship  more  than 
forty  years.  All  of  them  delivered  addresses  at  the  centen- 
nial celebration,  and  are  prominently  known  outside  the 
church.  Their  portraits  are  inserted  by  the  direction  of 
the  majority  of  the  committee,  without  consultation  with 
the  gentlemen  themselves,  and  in  almost  every  case 
without  their  knowledge.  If  in  opening  the  book  any 
of  them  should  be  surprised  to  see  their  own  faces,  a 
legion  of  friends,  within  and  without  the  church,  who 
have  ever  associated  their  names  with  the  most  import- 
ant period  of  its  history,  will  be  more  than  pleased  to  see 
these  faces  thus  connected  with  the  church  they  so  much 
loved  and  handed  down  with  this  memorial  long  after 
they  shall  have  passed  away. 

Hartford,  August  1st,  1890. 


PREFACE,        -  3 

CONSTITUENT  MEMBERS,  8 

INTRODUCTION,       -  9 

ORDER  OF  EXERCISES,  -  -  12 

MR.  HOWARD'S  ADDRESS,      -  -  21 

MR.  DAVIS'  ADDRESS,  -  27 

DR.  SAGE'S  SERMON,      -  -  35 

DR.  STONE'S  ADDRESS,  -  59 

MR.  THOMPSON'S  ADDRESS,  -  -  65 

MR.  BRONSON'S  ADDRESS,     -  -  70 

MR.  WHEELER'S  ADDRESS,    -  -  78 

MR.  DIMOCK'S  ADDRESS,       -  91 

MR.  HARBOUR'S  ADDRESS,  -  94 

DR.  ROBINS'  ADDRESS,  -  105 

REMINISCENCES  OF  DR.  TURNBULL,      -  -  nS 

MR.  BATTERSON'S  ADDRESS,  -  127 

MR.  TWICHELL'S  ADDRESS,  -  -  139 

DR.  KING'S  HYMN,  -  146 

MR.  JAMES'  ADDRESS,   -  -  147 

DR.  CRANE'S  LETTER,    -  -  164 

LETTERS  OF  REGRET  AND  CONGRATULATION,        -  169 

PASTORS  OF  THE  CHURCH,  -  180 

HISTORICAL  SKETCH,     -  -  181 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES,      -  -  227 

DEACONS  AND  CLERKS  OF  THE  CHURCH,       -        -  241 

PRESENT  OFFICERS,        -  -  242 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP, 243 


of  illustrations. 


PRESENT  CHURCH  EDIFICE,  EXTERIOR,  -  Frontispiece. 
CENTENNIAL  INVITATION,  -  -  Opposite  page  8 
PORTRAIT  OF  JAMES  L.  HOWARD,  -  "  "  21 
PORTRAIT  OF  GUSTAVUS  F.  DAVIS,  -  "  "  27 
PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  DAVIS,  -  30 
PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  SAGE,  -  "  "  34 
PORTRAIT  OF  WILLIS  S.  BRONSON,  -  "  "  71 
PORTRAIT  OF  JOSEPH  W.  DIMOCK,  -  "  «  91 
PORTRAIT  OF  DR.  TURNBULL,  -  "  «  118 
PORTRAIT  OF  JAMES  G.  BATTERSON,  -  "  "127 
PORTRAIT  OF  THE  PASTOR,  "  *«  147 
THE  PRESENT  CHURCH  EDIFICE,  IN- 
TERIOR, -  "''166 
GROUP  OF  EARLY  PASTORS,  "  "  180 
THE  FIRST  CHURCH  EDIFICE,  '•  "  185 
THE  SECOND  CHURCH  EDIFICE,  "  «*  199 
PLAN  OF  THE  PRESENT  CHURCH  EDI- 
FICE, -  "  "  211 
PORTRAITS  OF  MRS.  FOWLER  AND 

MRS.  EATON,       -  «  "216 

GROUP  OF  EARLY  OFFICERS,       -        -  «  "    240 


THE  CONSTITUENT  MEMBERS  OF  THIS  CHURCH. 


SAMUEL  BECKWITH, 

Mrs.  BECKWITH, 

JOHN  BOLLES, 

Mrs.  LYDIA  BOLLES, 
(  LUTHER  SAVAGE, 
(Mrs.  JERUSHA  SAVAGE, 
j  SAMUEL  FOWLER, 
(  Mrs.  GRACE  FOWLER, 

Mrs.  SARAH  FOWLER, 
j  THEODORE  OLCOTT, 
(  Mrs.  MARGARET  OLCOTT, 

EBENEZER  MOORE, 

REUBEN  JUDD, 

PRUDENCE  LOOMIS, 

EUNICE  ALFORD, 

Mrs.  MARY  MERROW. 


INTRODUCTION. 9- 


THE  church  adopted  a  resolution,  January  5,  1890, 
authorizing  the  celebration  of  its  First  Centennial  and  the 
appointment  of  proper  committees  of  arrangement,  as 
follows: — 

The  Hon.  JAMES  L.  HOWARD,  Chairman. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. — The  Rev.  J.  S.  James, 
pastor;  C.  G.  Munyan,  clerk;  G.  F.  Davis,  J.  G.  Batter- 
son,  J.  W.  Dimock,  M.  M.  Johnson,  M.  D. 

INVITATIONS  AND  PRINTING. — William  A.  Erving,  Silas 
Chapman,  Jr.,  George  T.  Utley. 

ENTERTAINMENT. — W.  S.  Bronson,  R.  P.  Chapman, 
A.  J.  Pruden,  Mrs.  Isaac  Glazier,  Miss  Harriet  I.  Eaton, 
Mrs.  E.  B.  Bennett,  Mrs.  Silas  Chapman,  Jr.,  Mrs.  C. 
M.  Holbrook,  Mrs.  Edward  Habenstein. 

Music. — C.  O.  Spencer,  Ludlow  Barker,  Herman  L. 
Bolles,  H.  H.  Saunders. 

DECORATION. — The  Young  People's  Association. 

FINANCE. — William  B.  Clark,  C.  O.  Spencer,  W.  O. 
Carpenter,  William  C.  Bolles,  Silas  Chapman,  Jr., 
D  wight  Chapman. 

ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. — The  Rev.  J.  S.  James,  the 
Rev.  Albert  Guy,  M.  M.  Johnson,  M.  D. 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

The  several  committees  carefully  perfected  all  details 
of  arrangement.  A  program  was  prepared,  and  invita- 
tions to  the  celebration  sent  to  all  members  of  the  church 
whose  address  the  committee  found  it  possible  to  secure, 
and  also  to  the  clergy  of  the  city  of  all  denominations, 
and  to  the  Baptist  ministers  of  the  state. 

The  large  auditorium  of  the  church  was  filled  at  each 
of  the  four  public  meetings.  In  addition  to  the  seating 
accommodation  afforded  by  the  ordinary  pews,  some 
three  hundred  chairs  were  arranged  in  the  aisles  and  on 
the  platform  to  meet  the  extra  demand.  The  speakers 
appointed  were  all  present  but  Dr.  Robins  and  Mr. 
Jerome,  both  of  whom  were  detained  away  by  ill  health. 
The  paper  of  the  former  was  read,  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
George  M.  Stone  gave  the  reminiscences  of  Dr.  Turnbull. 

The  South,  the  Asylum  Avenue  and  the  Memorial 
Baptist  Churches  of  Hartford  suspended  their  Sunday 
meetings  in  whole  or  in  part,  and  joined  with  the  mother 
church  in  the  happy  celebration.  At  the  Sunday  School 
Mass  Meeting  the  whole  body  of  the  auditorium  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  members  of  the  several  schools  and  their 
missions.  Fully  fifteen  hundred  persons  were  present. 

The  Scripture  reading  was  from  a  copy  of  an  English 
Bible,  published  in  1599,  and  brought  over  to  America 
in  1698  by  an  ancestor  of  some  of  the  members  of  the 
church. 

Mr.  Herman  L.  Bolles,  the  organist,  was  a  great- 
grandson  of  the  first  deacon,  Mr.  John  Bolles. 

The  floral  decoration  of  evergreen  and  potted  plants 
and  flowers  were  in  the  best  of  taste.  Around  the  walls 
of  the  vestry  and  the  spacious  vestibule  were  hung  paint- 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

ings,  daguerreotypes,  ambrotypes,  photographs  or  en- 
gravings of  every  pastor  of  the  church  and  of  almost 
every  deacon  and  clerk. 

At  the  social  reception,  Monday  afternoon,  a  former 
pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Sage,  and  his  good  wife,  stood  by 
the  side  of  the  present  pastor  and  his  wife,  in  the  vestry, 
to  greet  the  hundreds  of  friends  who  gathered  to  renew 
the  happy  associations  of  the  past.  These  friends  came 
from  near  and  far,  some  from  the  far  West.  From  others 
letters  and  telegrams  were  received  expressing  regrets 
and  offering  congratulations. 

The  two  succeeding  Thursday  evening  meetings  were 
devoted  to  reading  the  letters  of  regret  and  congratula- 
tion. 

Everything  combined  to  make  the  celebration  excep- 
tionally pleasant.  The  preparation  was  complete,  the 
music  delightful,  the  addresses  full  of  interest,  the  at- 
tendance up  to  the  full  capacity  of  the  house,  the  work 
of  the  ushers  prompt  and  efficient,  the  work  of  the  ladies 
even  more  than  could  have  been  anticipated,  and  the 
weather  a  surprise  of  sunshine. 


-eORDfiR  OF  EXERCISES. 


Sunday  Morning,  March  23d,  at  10.45  o'clock. 


ORGAN  VOLUNTARY. — Doxology. 
INVOCATION, 

THE  REV.  ALBERT  GUY. 

ANTHEM. — "Oh  Sing  unto  the  Lord,"       Dudley  Buck. 
CHOIR. 

SCRIPTURE  READING, 

THE  REV.  H.  M.  THOMPSON. 

PRAYER, 

THE  REV.  THOMAS  S.  BARBOUR. 

HYMN, 

THE  CONGREGATION  JOINING. 

How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints  of  the  Lord, 
Is  laid  for  your  faith  in  his  excellent  word  ; 
What  more  can  he  say  than  to  you  he  hath  said, 
To  you  who  for  refuge  to  Jesus  have  fled  ? 

Fear  not,  I  am  with  thee  ;  O  be  not  dismayed  ! 

I,  I  am  thy  God  and  will  still  give  thee  aid  ; 

I'll  strengthen  thee,  help  thee,  and  cause  thee  to  stand, 

Upheld  by  my  righteous,  omnipotent  hand. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES.  13 

The  soul  that  on  Jesus  hath  leaned  for  repose 

I  will  not,  I  will  not  desert  to  his  foes  ; 

That  soul,  though  all  hell  should  endeavor  to  shake, 

I'll  never,  no  never,  no  never  forsake. 

George  Keith,  fj8j. 

OPENING  ADDRESS, 

THE  HON.  JAMES  L.  HOWARD. 

REMINISCENCES, 

DEACON  GUSTAVUS  F.  DAVIS. 

Music, 

CHOIR. 

HISTORICAL  SERMON, 

THE  REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D. 

HYMN, 

THE  CONGREGATION  JOINING. 

All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name, 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall ; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 

Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe, 

On  this  terrestrial  ball, 
To  him  all  majesty  ascribe, 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 


O,  that  with  yonder  sacred  throng, 

We  at  his  feet  may  fall ; 
We'll  join  the  everlasting  song, 

And  crown  him  Lord  of  all. 

Edward  Perronet,  rj8o. 


BENEDICTION. 


14  ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. 

Sunday  Afternoon,  at  3  o'clock.— Sunday  School  Mass  Meeting. 

ORGAN  VOLUNTARY. 

PROCESSIONAL, 

Onward  Christian  soldiers, 
Marching  as  to  war, 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus, 
Going  on  before. 
Christ,  the  royal  Master, 
Leads  against  the  foe  ; 
Forward  into  battle, 
See  his  banner  go. 

REFRAIN — Onward  Christian  soldiers, 
Marching  as  to  war, 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus, 
Going  on  before. 

Crowns  and  thrones  may  perish, 
Kingdoms  rise  and  wane, 
But  the  church  of  Jesus 
Constant  will  remain ; 
Gates  of  hell  can  never 
'Gainst  that  church  prevail ; 
We  have  Christ's  own  promise, 
And  that  cannot  fail. 

Onward,  then,  ye  faithful, 
Join  our  happy  throng, 
Blend  with  our's  your  voices 
In  the  triumph-song ; 
Glory,  laud  and  honor, 
'  Unto  Christ  the  King  ; 
This  through  countless  ages, 
Men  and  angels  sing. 

S.  Baring-Gould,  1865. 

PRAYER, 

By  Superintendent  GEORGE  T.  UTLEY. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES.  15 

Music, 

CHOIR  AND  SCHOOL. 

ADDRESS. — "  Child  Life," 

THE  REV.  GEORGE  M.  STONE,  D.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  Asylum  Avenue  Baptist  Church. 

ADDRESS. — "Those  Little  Ones  that  Believe  on  Me," 

THE  REV.  H.  M.  THOMPSON, 
Pastor  of  the  Memorial  Baptist  Church. 

TENOR  SOLO  AND  CHORUS. — "  Sanctus,"  Gounod. 

ADDRESS, 

THE  HON.  WILLIS  S.  BRONSON, 
Superintendent  of  our  School  for  Twenty- Five  years. 

ADDRESS. — "  Planted  in  the  Courts  of  the  Lord," 

THE  REV.  J.  KITTREDGE  WHEELER, 
Pastor  of  the  South  Baptist  Church. 

Music, 

CHOIR  AND  SCHOOL. 

BENEDICTION. 


Sunday  Evening,  at  7.30  o'clock. 
ORGAN  VOLUNTARY. 
CHANT,  Wilson. 

CHOIR. 

PRAYER, 

THE  REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D. 

REMINISCENCES, 

MR.  JOSEPH  W.  DIMOCK, 
Senior  Member  of  the  Church. 

ADDRESS, 

THE  REV.  THOMAS  S.  BARBOUR,  FALL  RIVER,  MASS. 


16  ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. 

HYMN, 

THE  CONGREGATION  JOINING. 
I  love  thy  kingdom,  Lord,     ' 

The  house  of  thine  abode, 
The  church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 

With  his  own  precious  blood. 

I  love  thy  church,  O  God, 

Her  walls  before  thee  stand, 
Dear  as  the  apple  of  thine  eye, 

And  graven  on  thy  hand. 

For  her  my  tears  shall  fall, 

For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given, 

Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end. 

Timothy  Dwight,  1800. 

ADDRESS  AND  REMINISCENCES, 

THE  REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D., 
Professor  in  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary. 

REMINISCENCES  OF  THE  REV.  ROBT.  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

THE  REV.  EDWARD  M.  JEROME,  New  Haven. 

HYMN, 

THE  CONGREGATION  JOINING. 

Glorious  things  of  thee  are  spoken, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God  ; 
He  whose  word  can  ne'er  be  broken, 

Formed  thee  for  his  own  abode. 

Lord,  thy  church  is  still  thy  dwelling, 

Still  is  precious  in  thy  sight ; 
Judah's  temple  far  excelling, 

Beaming  with  the  Gospel's  light. 

On  the  Rock  of  Ages  founded, 

What  can  shake  her  sure  repose  ? 
With  salvation's  wall  surrounded, 

She  can  smile  at  all  her  foes. 

John  Newton,  1779. 

BENEDICTION. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES.  17 

Monday  afternoon,  March  24th,  from  3  to  6  o'clock. 

Social  Reception  and  Reunion  of  Members  and  Friends 

of  the  Church,  past  and  present. 


Monday  Evening,  at  7.30  o'clock. 
ORGAN  VOLUNTARY. 

ANTHEM.  —  "  Judge  Me,  Oh  God," 

CHOIR. 

PRAYER, 

THE  REV.  J.  V.  GARTON,  Meriden. 

HYMN, 

THE  CONGREGATION  JOINING. 

Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 

Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee  ; 

Let  the  water  and  the  blood, 

From  thy  side  a  healing  flood, 

Be  of  sin  the  double  cure, 

Save  from  wrath  and  make  me  pure. 

Nothing  in  my  hand  I  bring, 
Simply  to  thy  cross  I  cling  ; 
Naked,  come  to  thee  for  dress  ; 
Helpless,  look  to  thee  for  grace  ; 
Foul,  I  to  thy  fountain  fly, 
Wash  me  Savior,  or  I  die. 

While  I  draw  this  fleeting  breath, 
When  my  eyelids  close  in  death, 
When  I  rise  to  worlds  unknown, 
See  thee  on  thy  judgment  throne  : 
Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 
Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee. 


Mendelssohn. 


A.  M.  Toplady,  1776. 


18  ORDER  OF  EXERCISES. 

ADDRESS, 

THE  HON  JAMES  G.  BATTERSON. 

TENOR  SOLO.—'  '  Abide  With  Me, "  Shelley. 

MR.  HUBERT  MARCKLEIN. 

ADDRESS, 

THE  REV.  JOSEPH  H.  TWICHELL, 
Pastor  of  the  Asylum  Avenue  Congregational  Church. 

MALE   QUARTETTE. — "Lead    Kindly   Light,"   Dudley 
Buck. 

ADDRESS. — ««  The  Future's  Debt  to  the  Past," 

THE  REV.  J.  S.  JAMES,  Pastor. 


CHORUS, 


Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 

And  never  brought  to  mind  ? 
Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot, 

And  days  of  auld  lang  syne  ? 

We  two  have  run  about  the  slopes 

And  pulled  the  daisies  fine  ; 
But  we've  wandered  many  a  weary  foot 

Since  auld  lang  syne. 

We  two  have  paddled  in  the  brook, 
From  morning  sun  till  noon  ; 

But  seas  between  us  broad  have  roared 
Since  auld  lang  syne. 

And  here's  a  hand  my  trusty  friend, 

And  give  a  hand  of  thine  ; 
And  we'll  take  a  right  good  hearty  shake 

For  auld  lang  syne. 


BENEDICTION, 


THE  REV.  FLOYD  W.  TOMKINS,  JR., 
Rector  of  Christ  Church,   Hartford. 


SUNDAY   MORNING. 


JAMES   L.   HOWARD. 


OPENING  ADDRESS 

BY  THE 

HON.  JAMES  L.  HOWARD. 

It  is  my  privilege  as  chairman  to  open  these  services, 
and  I  find  myself  somewhat  affected  as  I  look  around  on 
this  congregation,  and  recognize  so  many  of  the  old 
members,  children  of  the  church,  many  of  whom  have 
come  long  distances  to  be  with  us  to-day. 

I  recognize  here  members  of  our  sister  churches  in  the 
city ;  those  who  are  children  and  grand-children  of  this 
old  church.  We  welcome  you  all  home.  Never  was 
a  mother  more  glad  to  see  her  children  than  we  are  to 
receive  and  recognize  you  to-day. 

It  is  my  privilege  to  declare  closed  the  first,  and  to 
open  the  second,  century  of  our  history.  How  much 
has  occurred  within  one  hundred  years !  How  much 
have  we  seen  in  this  country  in  these  hundred  years  of 
marvellous  growth!  Hartford  had  3,500  inhabitants 
when  that  little  band  of  sixteen  organized  this  church. 
Our  country  had  four  millions  of  inhabitants  at  that 
time !  Our  Baptist  churches  in  this  country  numbered 
sixty  or  seventy,  all  told,  with  perhaps  10,000  church 
members !  How  different  now,  with  a  population  in 
our  city  of  50,000,  in  our  country  of  60,000,000,  with 


22  OPENING  ADDRESS 

Baptist  churches  scattered  all  over  this  land,  to  the 
number  of  33,000,  with  a  membership  of  over  three 
millions!  How  changed  the  conditions  in  which  we 
live  to-day!  When,  on  March  23d,  1790,  that  little  band 
of  seven  brothers  and  nine  sisters  met  in  Luther  Sav- 
age's house  (where  now  stands  Mr.  Silas  Chapman's 
house),  and  consulted  with  reference  to  the  formation 
of  a  Baptist  church,  how  little  did  they  realize  that  the 
day  which  we  see  would  come! — as  little  as  we  can 
realize  that  which  is  before  us !  How  little  they  foresaw 
that,  starting  from  the  day  they  sat  there,  with  many 
prayers  and  many  tears ;  there  should  be  united  with 
this  church,  and  the  churches  springing  from  it,  five 
thousand  members,  nearly  four  thousand  of  whom  were 
baptized  on  the  profession  of  their  personal  faith ! — and 
that  the  united  membership  of  these  churches  in  the 
city  of  Hartford  to-day  would  reach  1600!  How  little 
they  could  have  looked  forward  to  that ! 

I  am  not  going  to  preach  a  sermon — that  is  not  in  my 
line — but  I  want  to  say  that  when  the  right  ought  to  be 
done  we  should  do  that  right,  without  reference  to  the 
amount  of  help  we  can  have,  but  do  our  duty  as  we  see 
it  and  the  Lord  will  give  us  strength  and  prosperity  in 
its  performance.  I  think  that  is  the  lesson  that  is  taught 
us  by  that  little  band  who  founded  this  church.  Among 
those  sixteen  persons  was  the  first  deacon,  John  Bolles,  and 
no  speech  will  be  perfect  without  reference  to  him,  any 
more  than  any  Baptist  speech,  on  any  public  occasion, 
would  be  complete  without  reference  to  Roger  Williams. 
John  Bolles  was  the  apostle  of  the  church.  He  was  a 
brother  beloved  like  the  apostle  John  of  old.  There 


BY  THE  HON.  JAMES  L.  HO  WARD.  23 

were  also  other  good  men  connected  with  the  church,  the 
Robins'  and  others,  men  of  deep  piety,  earnest  faith, 
strong  principle ;  all  of  whom  by  their  noble  example 
made  an  impress  upon  this  church  which  has  not  been 
lost.  This  church  has  had  too,  a  strong  array  of  talent 
in  its  ministry,  beginning  with  Brother  Nelson,  a  very 
remarkable  man,  whose  face  I  hope  you  will  all  look  at 
as  it  hangs  in  the  photograph  frame  in  the  vestry  of  the 
church.  He  was  a  strong  man,  greatly  beloved  and 
greatly  blessed.  And  in  connection  with  him  I  want  to 
mention  a  very  pleasant  fact ;  that  notwithsanding  Bap- 
tists in  those  days  were  looked  upon  with  distrust,  there 
were  men  of  broader  minds  than  to  distrust  them,  among 
them  Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of 
this  city,  who  was  a  firm  friend  of  Mr.  Nelson  all  his 
way  through. 

In  those  days,  and  in  the  days  since  then,  too,  our 
women  have  had  a  marked  influence  upon  the  character 
of  this  church.  We  must  know  the  mothers  in  order  to 
know  the  children.  In  this  church  it  has  ever  been  the 
case  that  the  women  have  had  a  strong  and  abiding 
influence,  a  state  of  things  that  has  not  gone  by  yet. 
Among  those  whom  it  was  my  pleasure  to  know  was 
Mrs.  Sarah  Fowler.  You  have  heard  to-day  a  selection 
read  from  the  Bible  that  was  brought  from  England  in 
1698  by  her  grandfather  (or  great-grandfather,  I  am  not 
sure  which)  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago.  Her  father 
and  mother  were  also  constituent  members  of  the  church. 
Mrs.  Fowler  was  a  person  of  rare  character ;  small  of 
stature,  but  strong  in  mind ;  possessing  and  retaining 
her  faculties  to  the  very  last  day  of  her  life.  It  was  my 


24  OPENING  ADDRESS 

pleasure  to  wait  upon  her  at  the  time  of  the  dedica- 
tion of  this  house ;  sitting  with  her  during  the  services. 
Being  curious  to  know  what  impression  the  surroundings 
would  make  upon  her  mind  of  simple  character,  I  asked 
her,  after  leaving  the  house,  how  she  was  pleased  with 
what  she  had  seen;  "Oh,"  said  she,  "it  was  very 
beautiful ;  I  am  glad  I  have  lived  to  see  this  day."  She 
was  very  fond  of  the  Bible — read  it  through  and  through 
— and  I  well  remember  her  saying  to  me  once,  "James, 
if  you  would  understand  the  Bible  you  must  not  only 
read  it  from  Genesis  to  Revelation,  but  you  must  read 
it  from  Revelation  to  Genesis,  and  then  you  will  under- 
stand the  spirit  and  the  scope  of  it."  She  was  not  with- 
out a  little  humor,  even  in  her  old  age.  I  recollect  that 
upon  one  occasion  I  visited  at  her  house  with  her  son, 
who  was  as  white-haired  as  myself  now.  We  found  her 
sewing,  at  ninety- five  years  of  age ;  her  son  was  disposed 
to  reprove  her  a  little,  and  said,  "  Mother,  I  think  it  is 
about  time  you  stopped  sewing."  Said  she,  "  Charles, 
if  we  don't  sow,  we  shan't  reap!"  I  recollect  upon 
another  occasion,  when  she  lay  upon  her  bed  during 
her  last  sickness,  another  son,  a  dignified  gentleman, 
came  to  see  his  mother.  In  a  room  adjoining  the 
bedroom,  I  said,  '  <  Uncle  Jerry,  I  want  you  to  come 
home  and  dine  with  me  this  noon,"  but  a  voice  spoke 
up  from  the  bedroom,  "  Jerry,  you'll  stay  here !"  Jerry 
turned  to  me  and  said,  ' '  I  can't  go ;  I  always  have  to  mind 
my  mother!"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  waiting  upon  her  to 
this  house  on  one  other  occasion ;  it  was  the  Sabbath  of 
Dec.  5,  1858  ;  in  the  same  pew  with  her  sat  her  daugh- 
ter, her  grand-daughter  and  her  great-grand-daughter ; 


BY  THE  HON.  JAMES  L.  NO  WARD.  25 

four  generations  represented  in  that  one  pew  upon  that 
occasion,  and  a  very  delightful  season  it  was  to  her. 

I  remember  others,  too,  of  the  women  of  this  church, 
whom  we  greatly  honored.  There  was  Mrs.  Robins, 
Mrs.  Canfield,  Mrs.  James  G.  Bolles,  Mrs.  Gilbert,  and 
others,  whose  voices  occasionally  were  heard  in  our 
meetings,  and  to  whom  we  gave  the  greatest  attention, 
for  they  always  addressed  the  church  in  a  very  tender, 
loving,  and  devoted  way.  Then  in  our  pastors'  wives 
we  were  blessed.  There  was  Mrs.  Davis,  whom  I  re- 
member when  I  first  came  to  Hartford,  mother  of  my 
brother  G.  F.  Davis.  Her  influence  in  the  house,  and 
as  co-worker  with  her  husband  was  marked.  Then  there 
was  Mrs.  Eaton,  whom  many  of  us  remember  as  coming 
here  first  as  the  bride  of  our  then  young  pastor,  and 
working  with  us  for  five  years  as  his  aid.  She  was  one 
indeed  with  us,  she  seemed  married  to  the  church,  and 
her  influence  and  her  spirit  were  felt  by  us  all ;  so  much 
so  that  when  the  years  had  passed  away,  and  Brother 
Eaton  had  been  laid  away  in  the  grave,  the  church  invi- 
ted her  to  return  to  us  as  assistant  of  the  pastor.  She 
came  in  1871,  and  remained  in  the  service  of  the  church 
until  1879,  a  blessing  to  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
her,  a  blessing  especially  to  the  poor.  Her  religious 
influence,  with  her  strong  character  and  her  earnest 
faith,  has  been  felt  by  us  all.  I  thought  I  would  men- 
tion these  sisters,  for  the  thoughts  of  others  may  run  in 
other  channels. 

I  have  in  my  hand  a  letter  written  in  England  in  1698, 
from  some  unspeakable  place  in  Devonshire.  It  was 
given  to  a  brother  who  had  left  home  on  account  of 
3 


26  OPENING  ADDRESS. 

some  little  personal  unpleasantness,  such  as  would  oc- 
cur in  England  occasionally  in  those  times  of  war. 
He  brought  it  with  him  that  he  might  find  a  home 
among  the  Baptist  churches  in  America.  This  letter 
simply  shows  that  there  was  a  connection  at  that  time 
between  churches  of  the  Baptist  faith  in  England  and 
in  this  country.  I  mention  it  to  show  you  that  in  the 
veins  of  some  of  the  fathers  of  this  church  was  the  blood 
of  those  who  believed,  and  who  stood  by  their  faith. 

( I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  my 
friend,  Deacon  Davis  of  this  church.) 


GUSTAVUS   F.   DAVIS. 


ADDRESS 

OF 

DEACON    GUSTAVUS    F.    DAVIS. 

The  First  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford  was  constituted 
on  the  23d  day  of  March,  1790,  under  advice  of  council. 
John  Bolles  was  the  first  deacon,  and  is  regarded  as  the 
father  of  the  Baptist  cause  in  this  place. 

It  was  not  until  about  eight  years  later  that  the  first 
meeting-house  was  built  on  the  corner  of  Temple  and 
Market  Streets,  where  it  still  remains. 

It  is  also  worthy  of  notice  as  the  place  in  which  the 
first  sessions  of  Washington  (now  Trinity)  College  were 
held. 

The  first  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Stephen  Smith  Nelson,  an 
alumnus  of  Rhode  Island  College  (now  Brown  University). 
He  was  called  to  supply  the  pulpit  in  1 796,  ordained  in 
1798,  and  continued  in  charge  until  1801.  He  married 
the  daughter  of  Deacon  Ephraim  Robins,  and  was  said 
to  be  the  first  educated  Baptist  minister  in  the  state. 

After  an  interval  of  six  years,  during  which  the  pulpit 
was  supplied  by  Dea.  Robins,  the  Rev.  David  Bolles  and 
Eber  Maffit,  the  church  called  as  its  second  pastor  the 
learned  but  eccentric,  Rev.  Henry  Grew,  who  served 
from  1 807  to  1 8 1 1 . 

The  next  minister  was  the   Rev.    Elisha   Cushman, 


28  ADDRESS  OF 

from  1813  to  1825.  He  was  very  successful,  and  during 
his  ministry  the  membership  was  increased  from  90  to 
268. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Cyrus  P.  Grosvenor 
from  1825  to  1827,  and  he  by  the  Rev.  Barnas  Sears, 
1827  to  1829.  The  latter  became,  subsequently,  a 
professor  in  Newton  Theological  Institution,  and  later 
President  of  Brown  University. 

The  above  particulars  are  gleaned  mainly  from  the 
able  paper  of  Dr.  A.  J.  Sage,  in  the  "  Memorial  History 
of  Hartford  County." 

Dr.  Sears  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Gustavus  Fel- 
lowes  Davis,  who  was  called  to  the  pastorate  in  1829,  at 
the  age  of  32,  and  remained  until  his  death. 

During  this  short  period  great  changes  were  effected 
both  in  the  church  itself,  and  in  its  relation  to  the  com- 
munity. Dr.  Sage,  in  the  article  above  referred  to, 
makes  this  assertion,  that  the  pastorship  of  Dr.  Davis  is 
regarded  as  marking  the  beginning  of  the  substantial 
prosperity  of  the  Baptist  cause  in  Hartford.  One  import- 
ant change  effected  by  the  youthful  pastor  was  the  re- 
moval of  the  church  from  the  house  on  the  corner  of 
Temple  and  Market  streets  to  a  new  structure  on  Main 
Street,  built  on  the  ground  where  the  Cheney  Building 
now  stands.  The  house  was  dedicated  on  the  23d  day  of 
March,  1831,  just  forty-one  years  after  the  formation  of 
the  church.  The  situation  was  central,  the  edifice  con- 
venient, the  choir  celebrated,  and  the  house  was  soon 
filled  to  overflowing.  During  the  first  year  after  the 
dedication  over  one  hundred  members  were  added  to  the 
church  on  profession  of  their  faith,  and  in  three  years 


DEACON  GUST  A  VUS  F.  DA  VIS.  29 

the  South  Baptist  Church  was  formed,  consisting  of  5  5 
members  taken  from  this  church.  The  period  of  Dr. 
Davis'  pastorate  was  marked  by  a  number  of  powerful 
revivals  of  religion,  extending  through  the  city,  in  which 
this  church  labored  strenuously,  and  received  an  ample 
share  of  the  converts.  The  pastor  co-operated  heartily 
with  Dr.  Hawes  of  the  Center  Church,  and  with  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Linsley  of  the  South  Congregational  Church. 
Meanwhile  heavy  responsibilities  and  outside  work  were 
laid  upon  him,  as  will  appear  more  clearly  in  a  brief 
sketch  of  his  life : — 

My  father,  Gustavus  Fellowes  Davis,  was  born  in  Bos- 
ton on  the  1 7th  day  of  March,  1797.  He  does  not  seem 
to  have  had  any  decisive  religious  impressions  until  his 
sixteenth  year.  Being  in  Worcester  at  that  period,  he 
was  attracted  to  hear  the  Rev.  William  Bentley,  a  quaint 
and  simple  preacher  settled  over  the  First  Baptist  Church 
in  that  place. 

Under  his  preaching  he  was  converted,  and  in  April, 
1813,  was  baptized  and  united  with  the  church  there. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  Christian  life  he  was 
profoundly  impressed  by  the  conviction  that  he  was  called 
to  preach  the  gospel,  but  his  youth,  inexperience  and 
lack  of  education,  seemed  to  preclude  so  important  a 
work,  and  the  mental  conflicts  through  which  he  passed 
during  several  months  in  relation  to  his  duty  in  this  re- 
spect were  very  severe. 

In  giving  an  account  of  this  period  of  his  life,  Mr. 
Davis  writes :  ' '  I  had  been  turned  out  of  house  and  home 
for  having  become  a  Christian  and  a  Baptist,  and  I  knew 
not  of  a  single  relative  who  was  a  Baptist.  I  had  no 


30  ADDRESS  OF 

funds  and  no  relatives  who  would  assist  me  to  obtain  an 
education  with  a  view  to  the  ministry  in  the  Baptist 
denomination,  neither  did  I  know  that  there  were  bene- 
volent societies  in  existence  to  assist  indigent  young  men 
like  me." 

Notwithstanding  all  these  discouragements,  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  he  began  to  preach.  Crowds  in  various 
places,  attracted  doubtless  by  his  extreme  youth,  flocked 
to  hear  him,  but  it  was  a  source  of  regret  to  him  all  his 
life  that  he  had  entered  upon  a  profession  so  laborious 
and  exhausting  with  so  inadequate  preparation.  He  did 
his  utmost  by  severe  and  persistent  study  to  repair  the 
deficiency,  but  always  sought  to  dissuade  enthusiastic 
young  men  from  following  his  example. 

Having  received  a  license  from  the  church  in  Worces- 
ter, Mass.,  he  found  his  first  field  of  labor  in  Hampton 
in  this  state. 

After  a  year  he  removed  to  Preston,  and  was  ordained 
pastor  of  the  church  there  on  the  i3th  of  June,  1816. 
After  three  years  of  service,  he  accepted  an  urgent  call 
from  the  Baptist  Church  in  South  Reading,  Mass. ,  and 
was  publicly  recognized  as  pastor  on  the  2  3d  of  April,  1 8 1 8. 

Here,  in  addition  to  his  pastoral  labors,  he  began  a 
systematic  course  of  study  in  Latin  and  Greek,  often 
walking  to  Boston,  a  distance  of  ten  miles,  to  receive  in- 
struction from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Winchell,  and  from  an  entry 
in  his  diary,  it  appears  that  he  finished  reading  the  Greek 
Testament  some  three  years  later  with  the  Rev.  Francis 
Wayland,  Jr. 

In  the  spring  of  1829  he  came  to  Hartford  to  assist  the 
Rev.  William  Bentley,  at  that  time  laboring  here  in  a 


GUSTAVUS    F.    DAVIS,  D.  D. 


DEACON  GUST  A  VUS  F.  DA  VIS.  31 

revival  of  religion,  and  this  circumstance  led  to  his 
settlement  in  this  place.  The  call  from  Hartford  was 
earnest  and  cordial.  The  people  here,  who  had  been 
divided  on  the  subject  of  a  minister,  were  united  in  him. 
He  felt  it  his  duty  to  accept  the  call,  and  on  the  2Qth  of 
July  he  was  publicly  installed  in  the  pastoral  office.  In 
assuming  the  ministerial  duties  of  this  church,  Dr. 
Davis  found  at  least  three  of  the  constituent  members 
still  living  here — Deacon  Bolles,  Deacon  Beckwith  and 
Mrs.  Sarah  Fowler,  also  Joseph  W.  Dimock,  Edward 
Bolles,  Albert  Day,  Deacons  Gilbert,  Brown  and  Roberts, 
Rev.  Gordon  Robins  and  others,  earnest  workers  in  the 
Lord's  vineyard ;  also  those  noble  women — Mrs.  Gilbert, 
Mrs.  Canfield  and  Mrs.  Robins,  who,  as  the  years  passed 
by,  came  to  be  regarded  as  mothers  in  Israel.  During 
the  seven  years  of  his  pastorate  the  church  prospered  in 
every  respect.  He  attended  carefully  to  all  details  of 
organization  and  administration.  He  visited  the  people 
at  their  homes,  labored  incessantly  in  prayer-meetings 
and  special  revival  services.  He  made  much  of  sacred 
music,  and  did  everything  to  encourage  and  improve  the 
choir,  but  his  principal  strength  was  in  the  pulpit.  It 
was  as  a  preacher  that  he  was  best  known  both  at  home 
and  abroad. 

For  the  pulpit  he  prepared  himself  carefully,  but 
preached  either  without  any  manuscript  or  from  brief 
notes. 

He  had  a  tenacious  memory,  and  as  one  of  his  hearers 
remarked,  "the  whole  Bible  was  at  'his  fingers'  ends." 

His  sermons  were  always  studded  with  Scriptural 
gems.  He  was  pre-eminently  a  Bible  preacher,  and  was 


32  ADDRESS  OF 

singularly  apt  and  sometimes  amusing  in  his  selection  of 
texts.  For  example,  on  a  stormy  Sunday,  when  there 
were  only  eight  persons  present,  he  chose  for  his  text. 
' '  Wherein  few,  that  is  eight  souls,  were  saved  by 
water."  On  another  stormy  Sunday,  while  he  was  yet  a 
mere  boy,  he  walked  four  miles  to  preach  to  a  congrega- 
tion of  ten  persons,  five  men  and  five  women.  His  text 
was,  "  Five  of  them  were  wise  and  five  foolish." 

Immediately  after  his  ordination,  at  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, he  preached  from  the  text,  "  And  a  little  child  shall 
lead  them." 

When  the  church  was  removed  from  the  old  place  of 
worship  in  Temple  Street  to  the  new  house  on  Main 
Street,  he  took  for  his  text,  * '  If  thy  presence  go  not 
with  us,  carry  us  not  up  hence;"  and  at  the  dedication 
of  the  new  house,  '  <  So  David  went  and  brought  the  Ark 
of  God  from  the  house  of  Obed-edom  to  the  city  of  David 
with  gladness."  A  Jew,  under  pretence  of  being  a 
Christian  convert,  induced  Dr.  Davis  to  give  him  ten 
dollars — nearly  all  the  money  he  had.  Finding  he  had 
been  duped,  he  consoled  himself  by  preaching  from  the 
words,  "  He  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outwardly." 

Dr.  Davis  had  all  through  his  life  an  exceptional  in- 
terest in  education. 

Having  been  denied  the  privilege  of  a  university 
course,  and  knowing  by  experience  how  hard  it  was  to 
do  without  it,  he  determined  to  use  every  effort  to  con- 
fer its  benefits  upon  others.  He  strenuously  endeavored 
to  secure  the  Newton  Theological  Seminary  for  the  town 
of  South  Reading,  where  he  then  lived,  and  failing  in 
that,  he  secured  the  establishment  of  an  academy  there. 


DEACON  GUST  A  VUS  F.  DA  VIS.  33 

He  was  the  chief  agent  in  collecting  funds  for  the 
Connecticut  Literary  Institute  at  Suffield,  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  it  well  established  before  his 
death. 

He  was  Trustee  of  Brown  University,  Examiner  at 
Wesleyan  University,  and  by  appointment  of  Hon. 
Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  War  in  1836,  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Examiners  of  the  United  States  Academy  at 
Westpoint;  also  in  1831  he  was  elected  one  of  the 
Trustees  of  Washington  (now  Trinity)  College.  Water- 
ville  College  in  Maine  (now  Colby  University),  and  Yale 
College  afterwards  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts.  His  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
bestowed  by  Wesleyan  University  in  1835. 

These  particulars  are  recalled  principally  to  show  how 
widely  he  was  known  and  esteemed  outside  of  the  limits 
of  his  own  denomination.  While  a  staunch  Baptist,  he 
was  so  courteous  and  so  genuinely  interested  in  all  good 
works  that  his  assistance  was  welcomed  and  valued 
everywhere. 

In  August,  1836,  while  on  a  visit  to  friends  in  Boston, 
he  was  taken  sick,  and  his  useful  life  was  brought  sud- 
denly to  a  close. 

In  his  last  sickness  he  was  often  heard  saying  in  de- 
lightful submission,  "  Not  my  will  but  thine  be  done." 
At  the  last  moment  the  words,  ' '  Grace — Grace, "  trembled 
on  his  lips,  and  as  if  parting  from  the  body  and  borne 
aloft  on  invisible  wings,  he  exclaimed  "  I  mount."  He 
died  September  1 1,  1836,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age. 

^ 

His  career  was  brief  but  extensively  useful.  .  During  the 
twenty-two   years   of   his   ministry,    he   preached    over 


34         ADDRESS  OF  DEACON  GUST  A  VUS  F.  DA  VIS. 

2,800  sermons,  and  baptized  388  persons  on  profession  of 
their  faith. 

In  closing,  I  think  I  may  be  pardoned  in  saying  that 
although  he  has  been  dead  for  more  than  fifty  years,  his 
memory  is  still  fragrant  in  this  and  other  churches  in  this 
state. 


A.    J.    SAGE,    D.  D. 


SERMON 

OF  THE 

REV.    A.    J.     SAGE,     D.D. 

Isaiah  Ixiii.  7,  8 — "  I  will  mention  the  loving-kindnesses  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  praises  of  the  Lord,  according  unto  all  that  the  Lord  hath  be- 
stowed on  us,  and  the  great  goodness  towards  the  house  of  Israel, 
which  he  hath  bestowed  on  them  according  to  his  mercies,  and  ac- 
cording to  the  multitude  of  his  loving-kindnesses.  For  he  said, 
Surely  they  are  my  people,  children  that  will  not  lie  ;  so  he  was  their 
Savior." 

With  the  service  of  this  morning  begins  the  celebration 
of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford.  This  is  an  occasion 
of  peculiar  interest,  not  only  to  ourselves  as  members  of 
this  church,  but  to  all  the  Baptists  of  Hartford ;  for  they 
share  with  us  a  common  origin.  Indeed,  the  interest 
extends  beyond  our  city  to  all  the  churches  of  the  state, 
and  beyond  the  state,  in  various  parts  of  our  country 
and  in  distant  lands  are  representatives  of  our  church,  to 
whom  this  is  an  event  of  unusual  importance.  The  old 
church  has  always  had  a  special  power  of  attaching  her 
members  to  her,  so  that  happy  and  affectionate  remem- 
brances cling  to  many  hearts  through  time  and  change 
and  distance. 

We  are  one  hundred  years  old,  and  we  could  think 
with  complacency  of  our  extreme  venerableness,  were  it 
not  for  neighbors  of  ours,  sister  churches,  that  from  the 


36  SERMON  OF  THE 

serene  heights  of  a  far  superior  antiquity  look  down  and 
smile  at  our  youthfulness  putting  on  the  airs  of  age. 
Their  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  calm  the  exuberance 
of  our  one  hundred,  and  forbid  our  boasting.  Yet  in 
some  respects  it  is  an  advantage  to  be  so  young,  although 
so  old.  We  can  remember  our  origin.  It  is  not  lost 
amid  the  mists  of  remote  years.  There  sits  among  us 
this  morning  one  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the 
founders  of  this  church.  One  of  them,  always  mentioned 
when  our  beginnings  are  referred  to — Deacon  John 
Bolles — can  easily  be  imagined  to  be  present  with  us. 
Somewhat  severe  of  countenance,  though  kind  in  heart, 
strict  in  the  moral  code  and  the  domestic  economies, 
positive  and  unswerving  in  conviction,  he,  with  the 
little  group  gathered  about  him,  gave  character  to  the 
Baptist  movement  in  Hartford.  It  was  he  who  rose  early 
on  many  a  Sabbath  morning  to  walk  to  Sufneld,  that  he 
might  worship  with  those  whose  faith  and  practice  he 
could  approve,  and  returned  in  the  same  way  at  evening. 
He  was  the  sturdy  offspring  of  a  stalwart  age.  The 
blood  of  the  Puritans  was  in  his  veins,  and  the  spirit  of 
the  Protestant  in  his  heart  and  will. 

Observe  him  calling  on  one  of  the  young  men  of  the 
little  congregation  in  his  room.  As  soon  as  he  is  seated 
he  observes  two  candles  burning.  Silently  he  rises  and 
blows  one  of  them  out.  Such  extravagance  must  be  dis- 
couraged. Turning  around  he  sees  two  sticks  of  wood 
on  the  fire.  Without  a  word  he  takes  the  tongs  and  re- 
moves one  of  them.  Thus  does  he  train  the  youth  to 
frugality.  Why  is  it  that  one  cold  morning  he  is  dis- 
covered floundering  in  a  snow-pit  in  East  Hartford  ? 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  37 

There  has  been  a  heavy  storm  all  the  preceding  day  and 
night.  The  country  is  heaped  high  with  snow.  He  has 
remembered  a  poor  widow  and  her  family  who  are  likely 
to  suffer,  and  he  has  broken  a  way  to  her  house,  with  a 
basket  of  supplies.  On  his  way  back  he  tumbles  into  this 
snow-pit,  and  with  difficulty  clambers  out  and  avoids 
freezing. 

It  is  not  a  misfortune  that  the  beginnings  of  our  his- 
tory should  be  specially  associated  with  a  layman,  that 
our  first  meetings  should  have  been  held  in  his  house. 
It  illustrates  the  democratic  theory  of  our  denomination. 
In  one  sense  the  ministry  is  before  the  church,  for  it 
is  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  that  creates  the  church. 
In  another  sense  the  church  is  before  the  ministry,  for 
the  ministry  is  born  of  the  church,  comes  forth  from  her 
heart,  is  subject  to  her  discipline.  There  must  be  be- 
lievers before  there  can  be  a  ministry ;  and  believers, 
baptized  or  unbaptized,  are  the  church.  The  church  of 
God  is  a  spiritual  temple. 

But  soon  the  ministry  comes  to  the  front.  Preaching 
services  are  instituted.  Various  supplies  are  obtained 
for  the  pulpit,  and  in  course  of  time  a  pastor  is  selected. 
It  was  well  for  the  future  of  the  little  band  that  the  first 
pastor  was  a  scholar  and  a  gentleman,  educated  at  Brown 
University  in  Providence — the  Rev.  Stephen  S.  Nelson. 

The  reception  of  the  little  church  among  the  brethren 
of  the  established  order  was  somewhat  reserved,  not  to 
say  cool.  Pastors  of  the  older  churches  attending  the 
earlier  services  declined  to  enter  the  pulpit,  and  sat  in 
grim  silence  at  its  foot.  They  were  not  altogether  hos- 
tile in  feeling,  for  when  a  super-zealous  layman  expressed 


38  SERMON  OF  THE 

himself  with  some  warmth  to  the  pastor  of  the  Center 
Church — the  First  Church  of  Hartford — the  answer  was 
made  that  a  movement  which  had  John  Bolles  at  the  head 
of  it  need  not  be  regarded  with  great  suspicion.  "It 
will  be  well,"  said  the  pastor,  "  if  our  hope  of  heaven 
shall  be  as  good  as  his." 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  the  established  churches  were 
shy  of  us.  The  controlling  spirit  of  the  times  was 
averse  to  such  movements  of  dissent  as  ours.  To  have 
welcomed  us  and  bid  us  God-speed  would  have  been  an 
unhistorical  act  for  the  pastors  of  the  standing  order. 
Hartford,  too,  had  been  unusually  conservative.  She 
had  given  the  cold  shoulder  to  Whitefield,  and  had  kept 
the  Separatists  far  away.  I  cannot  think,  either,  that 
in  this  she  is  to  be  sharply  condemned.  The  times  had 
been  full  of  extravagances.  Eastern  Connecticut  had 
been  overrun  with  fanaticism.  To  this  day  in  New 
London  the  judicious  grieve  for  the  consequences.  This 
fanaticism  had  associated  itself  to  a  considerable  extent 
with  the  name  of  the  Baptists.  The  Separatists,  many 
of  them,  became  Baptists.  The  Rogerines  practised  im- 
mersion. Other  sects,  with  various  names  and  isms, 
flung  out  a  banner  like  our  own.  Regulars  and  irregu- 
lars were  all  confounded.  Hartford  needed  a  little  time 
to  learn  that  the  new  interest  was  of  the  sober-minded, 
unfanatical  earnest  type  of  true  religionists.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  it  was  a  piece  of  special  good  fortune — 
I  might  better  say  a  token  of  God's  favor — that  out  of  all 
the  extravagances  which  had  marked  that  early  period 
there  came  to  this  city  a  spirit  representing  the  best 
results  of  the  fervors  of  the  eighteenth  century,  in  an 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  39 

organization  which  has  made  its  fruitfulness  and  spiritual 
power  felt  to  this  day.  Hartford  has  at  present  all  the 
conversatism  that  is  consistent  with  health.  For  incre- 
ments of  evangelical  life  she  owes  a  debt  to  her  Baptists 
and  Methodists. 

It  were  not  difficult  to  bring  to  our  imaginations  a 
picture  of  those  early  Baptists  in  Hartford.  We  may 
assume  at  once  that  they  were  a  plain  people.  It  has 
been  the  glory  of  the  Baptist  churches  that  their  special 
attraction  is  for  the  substantial  middle  class  and  the 
poor.  Now  and  then  there  comes  a  Nicodemus  or  a 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  a  Lydia  with  her  purple,  a  Pris- 
cilla  or  other  elect  lady.  But,  as  in  the  New  Testament 
days,  the  more  nearly  the  church  conforms  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  gospel,  the  less  does  it  attract  the  worldly 
and  fashionable,  and  the  more  does  it  abound  in  sterling 
character,  the  grace  of  which  is  inward  rather  than  out- 
ward. They  were  earnest  and  intense  in  prayer,  posi- 
tive in  doctrine,  fervent  in  public  services,  closely  united 
as  a  small  and  separated  band  of  brethren  and  sisters. 
They  lived  to  a  large  extent  in  and  for  the  church. 
That  their  zeal  was  not  easily  cooled  appears  in  an  inci- 
dent narrated  by  one  who,  baptized  a  number  of  years 
later,  is  still  a  member  with  you.  He  was  immersed  in 
the  open  air  on  a  day  so  cold  that  when  in  his  chamber 
he  removed  his  clothing  it  was  able  to  stand  alone. 
When  reclothed,  he  hastened  back  to  mingle  in  the  as- 
sembly of  the  saints.  As  he  entered  he  found  them 
singing  a  favorite  hymn — 

"  Brethren,  if  your  hearts  are  warm, 
Ice  and  cold  will  do  no  harm." 


40  SERMON  OF  THE 

As  late  as  1820,  when  Elisha  Cushman,  of  the  eloquent 
tongue,  was  their  pastor,  they  were  still  a  small  body. 
So  testified  an  honored  Congregational  layman  who  was 
accustomed  to  go  to  the  frame  church  under  the  hill  to 
hear  the  golden-mouthed  orator.  It  was  not  till  1829, 
when  Gustavus  F.  Davis  became  pastor,  that  they  began 
to  develop  that  aggressive  vigor  and  popular  power  which 
have  made  the  Baptists  a  prominent  factor  in  the  relig- 
ious and  social  life  of  Hartford.  He  was  a  man  whose 
soul  was  open  to  impressions  from  many  directions,  at 
once  receptive  and  diffusive,  receiving  largely  and  giv- 
ing forth  copiously ;  a  man  to  win  men,  to  hold  them 
and  influence  them,  of  full  orbed  mind  and  ready  utter- 
ance, emotional,  sympathetic,  attractive  to  children  and 
youth ;  a  man  of  substantial  mental  accomplishments,  a 
vigorous  friend  and  promoter  of  education,  yet  withal  a 
man  of  practical  sagacity  and  executive  skill.  He 
founded  the  institution  at  Sumeld.  He  built  the  new 
brick  church  half  a  block  south  of  the  present  edifice. 
He  increased  the  church  membership  until  it  overflowed 
in  a  new  organization — the  Second  or  South  Church. 
Of  any  other  pastor  it  may  be  said,  The  church  might 
have  been  what  it  is  without  him.  But  truth  must  be 
honored  in  the  statement  that,  from  a  human  point  of 
view,  the  Baptist  cause  in  Hartford  could  not  have 
become  what  it  is  without  the  work  of  Dr.  Gustavus 
F.  Davis. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  more  than  a  suggestion  of 
the  history  of  the  church.  I  can  only  mention  such 
honored  names  as  Cyrus  Pitt  Grosvenor,  conspicuous  for 
literary  attainments  and  zeal  in  moral  reform ;  Barnas 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  41 

Sears,  afterwards  eminent  as  an  educator;  Dr.  Henry 
Jackson,  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Eaton.  Fain  would  I  linger  at  the 
name  of  Robert  Turnbull,  whom  many  of  us  hold  in  so 
tender  and  reverent  remembrance.  A  man  of  child-like 
faith  and  fervid,  mystical  devotion;  a  man  of  marked 
power  of  spiritual  intuition,  piercing  with  an  eagle's 
vision  to  the  heart  of  a  subject,  and  with  facile  and 
glowing  expression,  bringing  it  home  to  the  hearts  of 
his  congregation ;  a  man  of  special  power  in  revival 
preaching,  yet  withal  as  gifted  in  the  use  of  the  pen  as 
in  the  silver-tongued  utterance ;  one  whose  books  still 
afford,  on  many  a  brilliant  page,  many  a  passage  of 
perennial  interest.  Surely  beginning  with  Turnbull  and 
looking  backward,  this  church  has  reason  to  be  thankful 
for  the  illustrious  line  of  her  ministry,  composed,  as  it 
has  been,  of  names  all  noble,  and  not  a  few  of  them 
eminent  in  our  denomination,  and  even  beyond  ;  names, 
too,  of  devoted  men,  servants  of  God,  preachers  of  truth, 
winners  of  souls,  moulders  of  character,  builders  of  the 
church. 

Under  their  leadership  has  risen  a  line  of  laymen 
whose  characters  and  lives  it  may  well  be  our  joy  and 
pride  to  contemplate.  John  Bolles  was  the  ecclesiastical 
ancestor  of  many  sterling  souls.  Within  the  remem- 
brance of  some  of  my  auditors  are  such  names  as  Phile- 
man  Canfield,  Deas.  Brown,  Gilbert,  Braddock,  Jas.  G. 
Bolles  and  Wallace.  Others  still  living  are  worthy  of 
high  and  honorable  places  among  those  who  have  gone. 
The  church  owes  a  debt  to  her  deacons,  her  Sunday- 
school  superintendents,  her  many  noble  laymen  without 
official  place,  which  she  cannot  too  gratefully  recognize. 
4 


42  SERMON  OF  THE 

One  fact  is  deserving  of  especial  mention  as  cause  for 
peculiar  praise  and  gratulation.  In  my  personal  know- 
ledge of  this  church  during  twenty-one  years,  and  in  my 
study  of  its  history  in  records  and  in  conference  with 
its  older  members,  some  of  them  now  gone,  never  have 
I  heard  the  slightest  suggestion  of  any  dissension.  No 
bickerings  have  left  behind  them  unhappy  remem- 
brances. No  scars  of  conflict  or  controversy  remain.  It 
is  remarkable  that  in  listening  to  the  historic  record  of  a 
century  we  catch  no  echo  of  strife.  What  a  testimony 
to  the  spirit  of  the  fathers,  thus  transmitted  and  perpet- 
uated !  What  an  occasion  of  thanksgiving  to  the  God  of 
all  grace,  who  has  enabled  his  people  to  keep  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace ! 

I  spoke  of  these  hundred  years  as  a  comparatively  brief 
period.  Yet  if  we  trace  the  record  of  events  that  have 
occurred  within  that  period,  if  we  reckon  it  by  the  deeds, 
not  years,  it  will  seem  to  us  a  long,  long  time.  Think 
of  the  inventions  and  discoveries  that  have  taken  place. 
It  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  conceive  what  the  times 
were  in  which  this  church  was  founded,  so  unlike  were 
they  to  the  present.  No  steamboat  ever  landed  at  the 
wharves  in  Hartford ;  the  only  navigation  was  by  sloops 
and  schooners.  No  locomotive  ever  waked  the  citizens 
with  its  whistle.  Travel  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process. 
Roads  were  defective,  and  a  trip  from  here  to  Boston  or 
New  York  might  well  occupy  at  least  two  days.  Styles 
in  dress  were  very  different  from  those  of  the  present, 
for  cotton  goods  were  rare  and  costly,  and  woolen  goods 
were  largely  the  product  of  the  private  distaff  and  spin- 
ning-wheel. The  country  was  poor.  The  long  and 


REV.  A.  /.  SAGE,  D.  D.  43 

wearisome  war  of  the  Revolution  had  kept  productive 
industries  in  abeyance.  There  was  no  frequent  change 
of  fashion  in  dress.  Books  were  rare  and  precious. 
Newspapers  were  few  and  small.  The  information 
which  they  contained  was  meagre  and  old.  No  tele- 
graph flashed  intelligence  of  important  and  exciting 
events.  The  post-office  was  a  small  affair.  Postage  was 
so  costly  as  to  make  the  receiving  of  letters  a  rare  lux- 
ury. Events  moved  slowly.  The  community  lived 
much  within  itself.  Men's  thoughts  turned  inward. 
Abstract  questions  occupied  their  minds  to  a  great  ex- 
tent. Religion  was  introvertive  and  self-inspective.  It 
could  not  be  otherwise.  There  was  not  enough  outside 
to  hold  the  attention.  Preaching  was  abstract,  argu- 
mentative, theological.  Religious  lines,  lines  of  sect 
and  creed,  were  drawn  very  sharply,  and  religious  prej- 
udices were  strong.  Doctrine  and  discipline  were  severe. 
The  French  revolution  was  just  breaking  out,  and  the 
American  revolution  had  not  yet  made  its  meaning 
understood.  A  hundred  years  ago  Washington  was 
President  and  about  as  far  advanced  in  his  administra- 
tion as  is  Harrison  to-day.  Republicanism  was  just 
beginning  its  great  experiment.  Washington's  court 
was  aristocratic.  About  him  were  gathered  such  men 
as  Vice- President  Adams,  Hamilton,  Knox,  Edmund 
Randolph.  The  democratic  simplicity  of  Franklin  and 
Jefferson  had  not  yet  produced  their  full  impression.  To 
be  a  Baptist  in  those  days  was  to  be  an  exponent  of  ideas 
a  half  century  or  more  ahead  of  the  times.  It  was  an 
unaristocratic  thing,  and  it  required  strong  conviction 
and  moral  courage  in  men  and  women  who  cared  for 


44  SERMON  OF  THE 

public  opinion.  The  rallying  of  the  Baptists  to  the 
standard  of  Thomas  Jefferson  a  few  years  later,  the  wide 
currency  of  the  expression,  "a  democrat  and  a  Baptist," 
and,  still  later,  the  journey  of  an  eccentric  Baptist  min- 
ister, John  Leland,  to  Washington  to  convey  on  a  sled 
to  President  Jackson  as  a  present  a  huge  cheese,  as  big 
around  as  a  cart-wheel,  are  all  indications  of  the  anti- 
aristocratic  and  liberty-loving  spirit  of  the  early  Baptists. 
How  events  have  moved  on  since  then !  Our  second 
war  with  Great  Britain,  our  Mexican  war,  our  colossal 
struggle  with  the  rebellion !  The  invention  of  the 
steamboat,  the  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone, 
the  cotton-gin,  the  sewing-machine,  gas-light,  electric 
light,  coal-oil-light,  steam  printing-presses,  photogra- 
phy, electro-plating,  wonderful  modes  of  bridge-build- 
ing, scientific  agriculture,  ploughs,  stores,  new  processes 
in  iron  and  steel,  new  and  wonderful  machinery  in 
every  department  of  work !  The  list  is  as  remarkable 
for  what  it  omits  as  for  what  it  suggests.  Then  too  the 
opening  of  the  Great  West  to  the  Pacific,  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  California,  the  vast  rush  of  immigration  from 
foreign  shores,  till  four  millions  of  people  have  become 
over  sixty  millions,  and  thirteen  states  have  become 
forty-two.  Certainly  if  the  founders  of  this  church  could 
mingle  with  us  to-day,  we  should  find  it  hard  to  under- 
stand their  quaint,  odd  manner  and  strange  old-fashioned 
ideas.  And  they  would  find  it  equally  difficult  to  be- 
lieve that  this  was  the  city  in  which  they  oncev  lived, 
that  we  were  their  modern  representatives,  and  that  but 
a  hundred  years  had  elapsed  since  they  founded  this 
church. 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  45 

If  there  is  reason  to  regard  the  secular  history  thus 
limited  as  possessing  a  peculiar  interest,  to  an  appre- 
ciative mind  the  religious  history  of  the  same  period  is 
not  less  interesting.  Our  church  was  founded  at  the 
very  beginning  of  a  century  of  revivals,  and  out  of  those 
revivals  have  grown  the  great  missionary  and  other 
evangelical  movements  of  the  nineteenth  century.  These 
movements  have  been  attended  with  important  changes 
in  doctrinal  teaching,  in  modes  of  religious  experience 
and  church  life. 

The  great  religious  event  of  the  eighteenth  century 
was  what  has  been  known  as  the  Edwards  revival.  It 
began  about  1740  and  continued  with  varying  degrees 
of  intensity  for  a  number  of  years,  finally  disappearing 
about  1750.  Its  most  conspicuous  promoters  were  Jon- 
athan Edwards,  the  Tennents,  the  Wesleys  and  White- 
field.  Methodism  took  its  rise  about  the  same  time  in 
England,  being  formally  established  in  1739. 

This  revival  has  a  large  place  in  the  history  of  the 
times.  It  was  made  the  subject  of  a  special  memoir  by 
Jonathan  Edwards,  and  was  the  occasion  Of  much  else 
that  he  wrote,  such  as  his  work  on  the  Religious  Affec- 
tions. It  had  also,  in  my  estimation,  an  important 
relation  to  the  political  history  of  the  century ;  for  as  it 
extended  over  all  the  land  and  was  the  occasion  of  pro- 
foundest  feeling  and  of  interchange  and  communion  of 
sentiment  between  different  parts  of  the  country.  I 
cannot  avoid  the  belief  that  it  prepared  the  way  for  that 
unity  of  feeling  and  purpose  which  kept  the  colonies 
together  during  the  Revolution.  The  Edwards  revival 
laid  the  foundation  for  inter-colonial  patriotism,  and 


46  SERMON  OF  THE 

founded  that  sentiment  which  so  recently  fought  to  a 
successful  issue  the  war  for  the  Union. 

But  when  we  come  to  make  a  numerical  estimate  of 
results,  we  are  astonished  to  find  that  as  the  product  of 
this  much  blazoned  movement,  there  were  added  to 
the  churches  only  about  forty  thousand  persons. 

We  see  also  another  remarkable  fact.  This  celebrated 
religious  movement  disappeared  in  an  outburst  of  fanat- 
icism and  was  followed  by  a  long  period  of  indifference. 
In  Connecticut,  especially  in  the  eastern  portion,  sprang 
up  a  certain  frenzy  of  extravagance  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davenport,  and  the  conclusion  of 
the  great  movement  was  a  pain  to  its  warmest  friends 
and  promoters.  Then  for  forty  years  there  was  a  dearth 
of  revival  influence.  Religious  zeal  seemed  to  have  ex- 
hausted itself  and  suffered  a  reaction. 

The  beginning  of  the  great  revival  period  which  fol- 
lowed this  reaction  has  generally  been  placed  in  1 792 . 
But  Dr.  Fish  in  his  work  on  Revivals  dates  it  from  the 
outbreak  of  revivals  in  1 790  in  two  Baptists  churches  of 
Boston.  Certainly  it  is  a  happy  thing  for  us  to  asso- 
ciate the  beginning  of  our  church  history  with  the  com- 
mencement of  a  period  which  in  some  respects  is  the 
most  remarkable  in  Christian  history  since  the  early  cen- 
turies of  our  era.  Taking  these  Boston  revivals  as  our 
initial  date,  two  years  later,  in  1792,  we  find  a  revival 
springing  up  in  Haddam,  Conn.,  under  the  ministry  of 
him  who  was  afterwards  so  widely  known  as  Dr.  Edward 
D.  Griffin.  The  great  work  in  Haddam,  Conn.,  was 
followed  by  another  equally  remarkable  under  the 
preaching  of  Dr.  Griffin  as  pastor  in  New  Hartford, 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  47 

Conn.  He  afterwards  became  pastor  at  the  celebrated 
Park  Street  church  in  Boston,  where  the  power  of  his 
work  was  continued.  About  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury a  powerful  revival  influence  was  felt  in  Kentucky 
and  neighboring  states,  marked  by  extraordinary  physical 
phenomena,  called  variously  the  "jerks,"  "the  power," 
etc.  During  this  period,  continuing  for  years,  tens  of 
thousands  were  added  to  the  churches. 

For  decades  afterward  revivals  were  experienced  in 
different  parts  of  the  land,  as,  for  example,  in  Farming- 
ton,  Conn.,  where  there  was  a  continuous  state  of  revival 
for  a  year,  during  which  about  a  hundred  were  added  to 
the  church  through  conversion.  In  his  lectures  on  Re- 
vivals Dr.  Finney,  that  most  extraordinary  man  of  God 
and  evangelist,  whose  auto-biography  every  mature 
Christian  should  read,  speaking  from  a  date  about  1836, 
remarks  that  in  the  continuous  revival  of  the  previous 
ten  years  a  hundred  thousand  persons  had  been  con- 
verted and  brought  into  the  Presbyterian  churches. 
Compare  these  figures  with  the  forty  thousand  of  the 
Edwards  revival. 

The  next  great  awakening  of  revival  interest  is  wit- 
nessed in  1857  and  1858.  A  period  of  disasters  in  busi- 
ness and  great  financial  depression  was  attended  with  a 
general  turning  of  the  hearts  of  the  people  to  the  Lord. 
The  outward  form  of  this  revival  was  determined  by  a 
movement  among  a  few  gentlemen  in  New  York  city, 
who  met  at  noon  each  day  for  prayer.  In  a  short  time 
this  noon-day  prayer-meeting  became  known  throughout 
the  city,  and  afterward  throughout  the  land.  It  is  still 
continued,  and  has  been  known  for  a  third  of  a  century 


48  SERMON  OF  THE 

as  the  Fulton  Street  prayer-meeting.  It  set  the  pattern 
for  religious  services  throughout  the  country.  Noon-day 
prayer-meetings  were  organized  in  the  cities  and  villages 
all  over  the  land.  The  talents  of  laymen  were  called 
into  requisition.  Conversions  occurred  in  great  num- 
bers. They  were  not  attended  with  the  remarkable 
phases  of  personal  experience  which  had  been  so  con- 
spicuous in  former  revivals.  Men  and  women  accepted 
Christ  as  Master  and  Savior  with  less  difficulty  and 
painfulness.  During  a  single  year  500,000  souls  were 
converted  to  God. 

This  was  the  last  great  national  awakening.  But 
glancing  over  the  period  of  which  we  have  spoken  we 
may  well  call  it  a  century  of  revivals.  It  has  been  at- 
tended with  almost  a  continuous  sweep  of  evangelistic 
power.  There  has  been  no  protracted  period  of  religious 
apathy  such  as  followed  the  Edwards  revival.  The  Holy 
Spirit  seems  to  have  had  fuller  sway  and  to  have  made 
easier  and  more  telling  conquests.  As  contrasted  with 
the  eighteenth  century  the  work  of  the  past  hundred 
years  has  been  characterized  by  larger  results  in  point  of 
numbers,  by  a  more  constant  and  persistent  influence, 
by  a  steady  decline  in  the  egotism  of  personal  experi- 
ence, by  a  less  violent  and  convulsive  entrance  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ.  These  changes  have  been  due 
largely  to  a  wider  diffusion  of  intelligence  in  religious 
matters,  to  wiser  and  more  rational  methods  in  evan- 
gelistic work  to  a  less  scholastic  and  more  practical  style 
of  preaching,  to  a  gradual  change  of  the  center  of  atten- 
tion from  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  the  person  and  work 
of  Christ,  from  the  inner  experience  of  the  individual 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  49 

to  the  crucified  Christ  as  the  completed  sacrifice  freely 
offered  for  the  cleansing  of  sin. 

But  thus  far  I  have  told  but  half  the  story.  This  re- 
vival period  had  continued  but  a  few  years  when  it  be- 
gan to  show  its  effects  in  the  formation  of  every  kind  of 
society  for  the  promotion  of  religion  ;  first  of  all,  foreign 
missionary  societies,  then  home  missionary  societies, 
tract  societies,  Bible  societies,  Sunday-school  associa- 
tions. This  century  of  revivals  has  been  a  century  of 
missionary  fervors,  with  grand  enthusiasm,  self-devo- 
tions, sacrifices,  prayers,  gifts,  and  with  magnificent  re- 
sults in  two  millions  of  converted  heathen  now  living 
and  a  world  dotted  over  with  mission  stations  which  are 
destined  to  produce  mighty  effects  in  the  coming  years. 

Now  I  wish  to  say  that  the  Baptist  cause  is  what  it  is 
to-day  in  Hartford,  a  power  and  an  honor,  because  this 
church  and  the  other  churches  of  the  city  which  have 
sprung  from  it  have  been  in  active  sympathy  with  this 
revival  spirit.  During  the  first  forty  years,  as  I  have 
been  led  to  believe  from  the  study  of  its  history,  it  was  a 
revival  church.  During  the  last  sixty  years  we  can 
trace  its  history  more  definitely.  Dr.  Davis  was  a 
preacher  of  superior  evangelistic  power.  The  Rev.  J. 
S.  Eaton  was  an  earnest  and  vital  preacher,  and  his 
pastorship  was  attended  with  frequent  revivals.  Dr. 
Turnbull  was  a  prince  among  revival  preachers.  When 
I  entered  on  the  pastorship  of  the  church  it  was  enjoy- 
ing revival  influences.  This  last  winter  a  number  of  con- 
verts have  been  added  to  the  membership.  The  interval 
between  these  two  dates  has  been  marked  by  a  number 
of  glad  and  valuable  revival  occasions.  We  are  here 


50  SERMON  OF  THE 

to-day  to  give  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  manifes- 
tation of  his  power  and  grace  toward  his  people  during 
these  hundred  years  in  the  frequent  outpouring  of  his 
Spirit.  Our  souls  thrill  within  us  as  we  remember  how 
God  has  moved  the  hearts  of  his  people  and  melted  sin- 
ners into  penitence  and  submission,  and  filled  his  church 
with  hosannas  year  by  year.  May  the  same  spirit  abide 
and  the  same  blessing  be  granted  so  long  as  the  name 
Baptist  shall  continue  in  the  city ! 

It  will  not  be  enough,  however,  on  such  an  occasion 
as  this,  merely  to  have  sketched  an  outline  of  the  history 
of  the  century.  We  can  not  satisfy  ourselves  without 
asking,  what  has  been  the  meaning  of  this  history? 
What  is  its  significance  for  us  as  a  church  ?  For  what 
have  this  and  the  other  Baptist  churches  of  this  city  ex- 
isted? 

A  very  meagre,  not  to  say  petty,  answer  would  be 
that  which  would  come  to  the  lips  of  multitudes  who 
have  given  but  little  attention  to  our  principles,  that  we 
have  existed  to  give  prominence  and  emphasis  to  a  mode 
of  baptism.  This  is  merely  an  incident,  and  by  no  means 
the  most  important,  of  our  faith  and  practice.  It  has 
been  our  part  to  emphasize  principles  which  are  funda- 
mental and  vital  in  the  church  of  Christ. 

First  among  these  let  me  suggest  an  open  Bible. 
We  believe  that  the  world  is  to  be  saved  by  the  word  of 
the  Lord.  Therefore,  to  believe  that  word,  to  practice 
it  and  to  teach  it  constitute  our  highest  duty.  To  regu- 
late our  lives  by  it,  to  control  and  inform  our  spirit  by 
it,  to  organize  our  churches  according  to  it,  to  observe 
ordinances  as  established  by  it,  to  teach  doctrine  as  an- 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  51 

notmced  in  it,  these  are  solemn  obligations  which  we  can- 
not disregard  without  guilt  before  God. 

Hence,  to  have  this  word  in  its  purity,  to  read  and 
study  it  without  restraint,  to  accept  it  and  teach  it  with- 
out restraint,  to  accept  it  and  teach  it  without  mixture 
of  human  philosophy  or  modification  by  practice  or  tra- 
dition of  men,  this  we  regard  as  our  duty,  privilege  and 
delight.  We  do  not  appeal  to  usage  or  commentary  or 
opinion  of  men  except  that  we  may  be  guided  to  a  better 
understanding  of  the  word  of  God.  Not  what  men  have 
said  or  done,  though  they  be  called  the  church,  but  what 
God  has  said  is  our  sole  criterion.  Hence  we  desire  that 
the  word  of  God  shall  interpret  itself.  Let  Scripture  be 
compared  with  Scripture.  Let  the  word  throw  light  upon 
the  word.  Let  the  highest  scholarship,  the  widest  knowl- 
edge, the  most  acute  insight  be  employed  to  aid  in  the 
interpretation.  But  let  us  expect  that  the  great  princi- 
ples, the  fundamental  teachings,  the  essential  ideas  of 
faith  and  practice  shall  be  discoverable  to  the  untutored 
mind,  guided  only  by  that  instinct  which  the  Spirit  of 
God  gives  to  the  humblest  believer  who  is  endowed  with 
native  intelligence. 

Another  principle  which  our  history  has  illustrated  is 
that  of  the  supremacy  of  conscience  in  association  with 
liberty.  Dr.  Shaw,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  who  for  nearly 
fifty  years  was  the  honored  pastor  of  one  of  the  largest 
Presbyterian  churches  in  America,  once  said  to  me,  "  I 
have  a  high  respect  for  a  consistent  Baptist.  It  is  all 
conscience  with  him  from  first  to  last.  "  That  is  to  say, 
not  that  it  is  to  be  assumed  that  a  Baptist  is,  by  virtue  of 
his  denominational  affinities,  more  conscientious  than  a 


52  SERMON  OF  THE 

member  of  another  church,  nor  that  Baptist  principles 
are  grounded  upon  taste  or  precedent  or  tradition  or 
convenience  or  judgment  of  men,  but  on  strict  reference 
to  conscience  and  duty.  An  incident  which  occurred 
between  two  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  our  denomi- 
nation may  illustrate  this.  Said  one  to  the  other,  ' '  Aren't 
you  glad  that  you  are  in  the  Baptist  denomination?" 
"Why?"  "Because  you  are  with  so  many  who  are 
there  because  they  have  to  be.  "  The  answer  is  full  of 
significance.  Baptist  churches  have  many  members  who 
are  such  by  accident  of  birth  or  association,  but  it  has 
also  multitudes  of  noble,  sturdy  souls  who  stay  where 
they  are  from  sheer  loyalty  to  the  voice  of  God  as  it 
comes  to  them,  when  social  affinities,  intellectual  tastes 
and  natural  inclinations  would  lead  them  elsewhere.  Woe 
be  to  a  church  which  is  filled  with  people  who  have 
sought  it  for  its  social  advantages,  its  intellectual  privi- 
leges, its  elegancies  of  taste !  Our  Lord  and  his  disciples 
were  plain  people,  they  moved  among  plain  people,  and 
their  test  of  action  was  not  what  is  agreeable  but  what  is 
right. 

Another  incident  will  illustrate  what  I  have  to  say 
about  liberty.  A  gentleman  who  occupies  one  of  the 
most  prominet  pulpits  in  our  denomination  had  expressed 
himself  somewhat  freely  as  to  some  of  our  denominational 
ideas  and  practices,  in  the  presence  of  many  members  of 
other  denominations.  For  this  he  had  been  sharply  cen- 
sured by  one  of  our  papers.  It  was  feared  by  many  that 
he  would  leave  the  denomination.  "But,"  he  said  to 
me,  "  I  considered  the  subject  carefully,  and  said  to  my- 
self, the  Baptist  church  is  ideally  the  most  liberal  church 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  53 

on  earth,  and  I  shall  stay  in  it."  "Ideally  the  most 
liberal."  The  expression  seems  to  me  peculiarly  felici- 
tous and  emphatically  true.  "Ideally."  In  practice 
we  are  not  always  true  to  our  principles.  I  sometimes 
think  that  we  do  not  yet  understand  our  own  principles. 
But  a  man  cannot  be  a  thorough  Baptist,  in  spirit  and  not 
merely  in  the  letter,  without  having  a  free  and  liberal 
soul.  Nobler  men,  broader  men,  grander  men  than  such 
as  I  have  met  and  intimately  known  within  our  Baptist 
limits  I  am  certain  I  shall  never  meet  on  earth.  They 
are  not  to  be  found.  If  God  has  made  them  he  has  not 
shown  them  to  me.  They  stand  in  sharpest  contrast 
with  the  snarling,  petulant,  clamorous,  uneasy  adver- 
tisers of  their  own  liberality  with  whom  Providence  has 
seen  fit  to  afflict  some  churches  beyond  our  limits. 
The  noblest  man  on  earth  is  he  who  is  strictly  loyal  to 
duty,  while  yet  possessing  a  large  and  genial  spirit 
toward  all  members  of  God's  church  universal. 

The  Baptist  denomination  has  made  a  noble  fight  in 
this  country  for  liberty  of  conscience,  and  has  seen  at  last 
its  principles  adopted  into  every  political  constitution  in 
the  land.  For  nearly  thirty  years  after  the  founding  of 
this  church  they  waited  and  struggled  in  this  state,  until 
the  new  constitution  gave  them  all  that  they  sought.  In 
the  love  of  liberty  this  church  has  shared,  and  in  the 
practice  of  a  truly  Christian  liberality  it  has  been  behind 
no  other  in  the  denomination. 

Another  principle  for  which  we  have  stood,  is  the  im- 
perative necessity  of  conscious  regeneration  to  the  Christ- 
ian life  and  to  church  membership.  We  do  not  urge 
that  the  soul  must  be  conscious  of  regeneration  in  the 


54  SERMON  OF  THE 

act,  while  it  is  taking  place,  for  undoubtedly  many  have 
met  with  a  change  of  heart  without  knowing  it.  But  we 
do  insist  that  every  one  who  wears  the  name  of  Christian 
ought  to  have  credible  evidence  that  he  is  in  a  regenerate 
condition.  We  reject  the  idea  that  any  one  is  entitled 
to  the  name  of  Christian  merely  because  he  is  a  church 
member,  however  faithful,  or  that  he  can  properly  be  a 
church  member  unless  by  vital  experience  he  is  a 
Christian.  Against  that  pernicious  error,  more  fatal  to 
genuine  Christianity  than  any  other,  that  it  is  enough 
for  a  man  to  unite  with  a  church  of  Christ,  partake  of  its 
ordinances,  accept  its  discipline,  attend  to  its  instructions, 
participate  in  its  services,  preserve  the  demeanor  and 
reputation  of  a  moral  man,  that  thereby  he  satisfies  the 
claims  of  his  Creator,  and  is  in  the  way  to  heaven, 
against  this  deadly  error,  so  widely  accepted  and  incul- 
cated, we  protest  with  all  our  might.  The  nature  which 
is  ours  by  birth  is  not  fit  for  heaven.  By  power  from  on 
high  it  must  be  born  again.  By  the  heavenly  gift  it 
must  become  a  child  of  God.  And  that  new  birth,  that 
heavenly  gift,  is  not  inspired  by  man ;  it  cannot  be  be- 
stowed by  any  church.  It  is  the  product  of  a  direct  re- 
lation of  the  soul  to  its  God.  It  is  the  fruit  of  God's 
work  in  Christ  through  the  blood  of  redemption,  person- 
ally apprehended  and  appropriated.  To  hold  this  doc- 
trine forth,  to  emblazon  it  on  the  banners  of  the  church, 
and  unfurl  it  before  the  world,  has  been  the  aim  and 
effort  of  Baptist  churches.  This  truth  speaks  in  our 
mode  of  baptism,  the  cleansing  of  the  soul  from  sin  in 
the  bath  of  regeneration,  the  rising  of  the  soul  to  a  new 
life  by  the  power  of  Christ's  resurrection,  in  the  likeness 


REV.  A.  J.  SAGE,  D.  D.  55 

of  his  rising  to  the  new  life,  the  heavenly  and  glorified 
condition.  This  doctrine  of  the  new  birth  is  the  vital 
point,  the  test  of  genuine  Christianity,  for  it  is  the 
practical  outcome  of  the  great  method  of  redemption 
through  Christ,  without  which  the  cross  is  of  none  effect. 
To  state  all  in  one,  we  stand  for  the  spirituality  of  the 
church  of  Christ.  The  essential  idea  of  the  church  is 
that  of  a  spiritual  body.  The  church  of  Christ  is  that 
great  multitude  of  true  believers,  the  wide  world  over, 
of  whatever  name  or  of  no  name,  the  mighty  host  which 
no  man  can  number,  for  no  man  knows  who  they  are, 
they  who  shall  come  from  the  East  and  the  West,  the 
North  and  the  South,  of  every  kindred  and  tongue  and 
people  and  nation  under  the  sun,  to  sit  down  together  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  These  are  they  of  whom 
Charles  Wesley  wrote: — 

' '  One  army  of  the  living  God, 
One  church  above,  below  ; 
Part  of  the  host  have  crossed  the  flood, 
And  part  are  crossing  now." 

We  believe  in  the  church  invisible.  I  heard  Mr. 
Spurgeon  say  from  his  own  pulpit  last  summer  that  there 
is  no  visible  church.  Every  visible  body  calling  itself 
the  church  is  so  intermixed  of  evil  and  good,  church  and 
world,  that  it  is  only  by  accommodation  that  it  can  be 
called  the  church.  This  is  an  extreme  statement  of  a 
great  and  vital  truth.  The  Baptist  denomination  has 
sought  to  make  the  visible  body  as  nearly  conformable 
to  the  spiritual  ideal  as  possible.  For  this,  with  varying 
success,  this  church  has  contended.  What  it  has  accom- 
plished may  be  dimly  seen  on  earth ;  it  will  be  seen  in  its 


56  SERMON  OF  DR.  SAGE. 

fulness  hereafter  in  heaven.  For  this  universal,  spirit- 
ual church,  as  well  as  for  the  local  church,  our  hearts 
sing:— 

"  For  her  my  tears  shall  fall,   • 
For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given, 
Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end." 

Looking  back  over  the  century,  so  much  of  it  as  we  can 
bring  within  our  vision,  we  feel  that  we  have  not  existed 
in  vain.  We  have  striven  for  an  open  Bible,  for  con- 
science and  liberty,  for  a  gospel  that  regenerates  the  soul 
of  man,  and  for  a  spiritual  church.  Much  better  it 
might  have  been  done.  That  it  has  been  done  with  so 
great  a  degree  of  success  we  have  reason  to  be  devoutly 
thankful  to  God.  Let  us  profit  by  a  sense  of  the  imper- 
fections of  our  work,  let  us  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to 
God,  who  is  a  spirit,  and  let  us  pray  that  the  second  cen- 
tury of  our  existence  may  make  the  Baptist  churches  of 
Hartford,  more  than  ever  before,  a  power  for  good  and  a 
glory  to  God. 


SUNDAY  AFTERNOON 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.  GEO.  M.   STONE,    D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  Asylum  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Hartford. 
CHILD-LIFE. 

I  suppose  we  are  all,  to-day  especially,  trying  to  meas- 
ure how  long  a  time  a  hundred  years  is.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  some  of  these  children  are  wrestling  with  that  sim- 
ple, though  very  difficult  problem.  Now,  I  want  to  tell 
you  something  about  fifty  years,  which  will  help  us  to 
measure  more  adequately  to  our  own  minds  the  lapse  of 
a  century,  or  one  hundred  years. 

I  went  out  of  an  old  home  in  Ohio  a  few  years  ago, 
following  an  old  man  to  his  last  resting-place,  and  what 
was  very  interesting  about  this  man  was  that  he  had 
lived  for  fifty  years  in  the  same  house  from  which  he  was 
carried  forth.  Now,  on  the  farm  where  my  father  lived, 
there  was  not  a  horse  or  an  animal  of  any  kind  in 
existence  at  the  time  of  his  death  that  was  there  when 
he  came  there.  There  was  not  a  wagon,  there  was  not 
a  plow,  nor  scarcely  a  farming  utensil,  that  was  there  at 
the  time  he  began  his  career.  Man  outlives  the  ani- 
mals, and  outwears  iron  and  wood.  All  these  things 
have  gone,  while  his  life  swept  on.  And  so  to-day,  how 


60  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

much  has  vanished,  gone  forever  from  the  earth,  that 
was  here  one  hundred  years  ago.  And  then,  by  the 
mighty  law  of  spiritual  compensation,  how  much  remains 
that  was  here  one  hundred  years  ago !  The  material 
vanishes,  the  spiritual  has  the  stamp  of  eternal  perma- 
nency! That  is  the  first  great  lesson,  it  seems  to 
me,  the  Sunday-school  teacher  and  Sunday-school 
scholar  would  need  to  learn  here  this  afternoon.  Mat- 
ter is  below  spirit.  Spirit  is  over  matter.  You  cannot 
bury  it.  You  cannot  eliminate  it.  You  cannot  extinguish 
it.  It  abides. 

I  want  to  say  a  few  words ;  they  shall  be  few.  For  elo- 
quent and  interesting  gentlemen  whom  you  desire  to 
hear,  are  coming  after  me.  And  I  am  but  to  open  the 
door  to  this  banquet  this  afternoon.  I  want  to  tell  very 
briefly  about  some  changes  in  the  idea  of  child-life  which 
have  occurred  during  the  past  century. 

In  the  first  place,  men  have  made  the  lives  of  child- 
hood a  study,  a  loving,  patient,  persevering,  penetrating 
study,  as  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world.  If  I 
had  time  I  would  like  to  tell  you  a  great  deal  about 
Frcebel  the  German,  born  about  a  century  ago.  Every 
child  ought  to  know  that  name.  Every  child  ought  to 
embalm  the  name  of  that  noble  German,  who  has  done 
more,  perhaps,  for  child-life  in  the  past  century  than 
any  other  single  man.  And  by  Frcebel's  side,  as  I  speak 
of  children,  there  also  comes  to  me,  with  a  thrill  in  my 
heart,  the  name  of  Charles  Dickens.  All  honor  to 
that  man,  who  never  forgot  the  feelings  of  a  boy. 
Four  of  his  conspicuous  works  were  written  in  the 
interest  of  boys.  I  refer  to  "  Dombey  &  Son,  "  «  Nicho- 


REV.  GEO.  M.  STONE,  D.  D.  61 

las  Nickleby,  "  ''Oliver  Twist,"  and  "David  Copper- 
field."  You  know  that  wonderful  book,  "Nicholas 
Nickleby, "  was  written  because  Dickens  once  saw  a 
boy  who  had  come  down  from  Yorkshire  bearing  the 
marks  of  the  brutality  of  a  Yorkshire  schoolmaster.  And 
that  wonderful  plea  for  boys,  "Nicholas  Nickleby," 
was  written  in  consequence.  I  think  no  boy  or  girl 
could  be  sullied  for  a  moment  in  reading  it.  But  it 
was  Froebel,  who  went  into  the  arcanum  of  child-life, 
with  the  penetrating  insight  of  German  scholarship.  He 
opened  the  sealed  doors  of  child-life.  For  he  was  the 
author  of  the  "Kindergarten."  The  word  you  know, 
means  "the  garden  of  children."  And  he  built  on 
the  slopes  of  many  a  hill  in  Germany,  and  in  many  a 
valley  in  America,  a  "garden  for  children.  "  The  gen- 
erations of  children  to  come  will  rise  up  and  call  this 
great  man  blessed !  Now,  what  did  Frcebel  do  for  chil- 
dren? What  did  he  do  for  child-life?  He  said,  you 
must  study  the  child,  if  you  would  teach  it.  He  studied, 
day  by  day,  and  year  by  year,  the  play  of  a  child  in  its 
mother's  arms ;  studied  it,  as  I  have  said,  with  the  pene- 
trating insight  of  German  scholarship.  Then  he  studied 
the  tendencies  of  childhood,  and  developed  another  great 
principle,  the  rights  of  children.  I  wish  all  public  schools 
could  come  to  recognize  these  rights. 

One  of  Frcebel' s  principles  was  that  the  child  should 
be  recognized  according  to  his  individuality.  You  put 
several  boys  or  girls  in  a  class.  They  have  different  apti- 
tudes, they  have  different  mental  capacities.  The 
teacher  comes  along,  if  she  is  not  a  wise  teacher,  and  re- 
proves Alice  or  Mary  because  she  does  not  study  or  sue- 


62  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

ceed  quite  as  well  in  her  lessons  as  Kitty.  A  little  boy 
in  a  school,  who  had  been  reproved  by  his  teacher  be- 
cause he  seemed  to  lag  behind,  with  a  tear  in  his  eye 
looked  up  at  the  teacher,  and  said,  "  Teacher,  I  am  doing 
the  very  best  I  can.  "  When  God  has  hedged  a  child 
by  natural  limitations  of  thought  or  of  life,  the  child 
should  not  be  blamed  for  that.  And  we  should  remember 
that  we  are  serving  the  dear  Master,  who  looked  at  men 
in  their  individuality,  who  understood  the  characteris- 
tics of  Mary  and  Martha,  who  placed  the  abyss  be- 
tween these  women  which  they  never  could  cross. 
That  same  Master  understands  the  aptitudes  of  child- 
ren, and,  I  believe,  inspired  Frcebel  to  take  this  stand 
in  behalf  of  child-life.  By  the  way,  that  child,  you 
know,  that  is  slow  when  it  is  seven  years  old,  may 
overtake  the  more  precocious  scholar  by  and  by, 
and  unfold  into  capacity  and  power  which  shall  utterly 
overtop  the  other.  I  only  plead  that  this  distinction 
should  be  recognized.  I  only  echo  the  grand,  noble 
and  manly  words  of  Froebel,  as  they  should  be  heard  in 
our  school-systems  to-day. 

Frcebel  taught  also  that  children  must  be  taught  by 
similitudes.  This  was  Frcebel's  thought,  but,  long  be- 
fore that,  it  was  the  thought  of  him  who  walked  in 
Galilee  and  spake  only  in  parables  to  the  people.  How 
I  used  to  groan  when  I  was  a  little  boy,  wondering 
whether  the  preacher  would  have  anything  for  me. 
Then  came  pure,  abstract  thought,  marching  on  from 
first  to  sixteenthly,  without  one  thought  for  me,  and 
without  one  similitude. 

I  want  to  say  a  word  here,  teachers  and   children,  on 


REV.  GEO.  M.  STONE,  D.  D.  63 

this  striking  fact.  Froebel  has  illustrated,  naturally,  the 
idea  of  the  new  life,  by  means  of  the  growth  of  children. 
All  the  stages  of  Christian  growth  are  so  like  the  growth 
of  a  child  that,  looking  at  the  likeness,  we  may  help  the 
child  to  climb  as  by  no  other  means. 

' '  As  the  days  of  a  tree,  so  are  the  days  of  my  people.  " 
The  environment  in  the  life  of  the  individual,  in  vege- 
table life,  in  the  life  of  a  plant,  is  the  great  factor  in  its 
growth,  and  I  think  one  of  the  grandest  similitudes  in 
the  Old  Testament  is  drawn  directly  from  tree-life: 
"  Instead  of  the  thorn  shall  come  up  the  fir-tree,  and 
instead  of  the  brier  shall  come  up  the  myrtle-tree,  and  it 
shall  be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign, 
that  shall  not  be  cut  off.  " 

To  me  to-day  (and  I  thank  one  man  for  opening  these 
wonderful  things  to  me  in  my  early  manhood)  all  nature 
illustrates  Christian  truth.  The  swan  floats  double — 
swan  and  shadow — and  I  believe  God  has  embodied  this 
fact  of  regeneration  deeply,  sacredly,  in  nature.  Just 
take  the  seed;  it  must  die  before  it  germinates.  All 
Christian  life  in  these  children's  hearts  is  life  from  death. 
My  dear  little  girls,  and  boys  you  must  die  within,  to  all 
that  is  selfish,  and  then  Christ  is  born  within  you. 

We  are  born  in  thought.  Thought  is  the  seed,  and  it 
is  life  from  death,  all  the  way  through. 

Another  thing  I  know  these  boys  would  like  to  hear 
about  is  this :  just  as  soon  as  the  seed  begins  to  germi- 
nate it  grows  in  two  directions ;  the  root  goes  down  into 
the  dark,  feeling  its  way,  and  the  blade  goes  up  and 
finds  the  light.  Just  so  there  are  two  sides  to  the  Chris- 
tian life — a  life  of  secret  prayer,  and  a  life  that  is  lived 


64  ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.  GEO.  M.  STONE. 

before  men.  It  is  keeping  the  balance  between  these  two 
lives  that  makes  the  Christian  life. 

A  plant  has  three  stages  of  growth;  first,  the  roots 
start  out;  next,  the  stem,  and  then  it  leaps  into 
flower.  You  will  notice  that  after  the  plant  comes  into 
flower,  first  color  comes,  and  then  a  sweet  perfume. 
Just  so  in  the  Christian  life  there  is  a  betterment,  if  it  is 
only  cultivated.  The  Christian  life  grows  better  and 
better.  And  with  this  thought  I  will  close.  I  trust  this 
may  be  the  key-note  to  the  future ;  that  this  church,  with 
its  hundred  years  of  noble  history,  and  all  the  churches 
and  Sunday-schools  which  have  grown  out  of  it,  may 
keep  growing  better  and  better. 

You  remember  Dr.  Holmes  has  a  beautiful  poem  on 
"The  Chambered  Nautilus,"  who  leaves  its  last  year's 
dwelling  for  a  new  one  annually.  The  poet  applies  its 
lesson  to  his  own  life  in  these  words, — 

"  Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  O  my  soul, 

As  the  swift  seasons  roll, 

Leave  thy  low  vaulted  past, 
Let  each  new  temple,  nobler  than  the  last, 
Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast, 

Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 
Leaving  thine  outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea.  " 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV  H.  M.  THOMPSON, 

Pastor  of  the  Memorial  Baptist  Church,  Hartford. 
"  THOSE  LITTLE  ONES  THAT  BELIEVE  ON  ME.  " 

Due,  doubtless  more  to  the  Sunday-school  than  to  any 
other  single  agency,  is  the  fact  that  there  are  in  our  con- 
gregations to-day  not  an  insignificant  number  of  ' '  little 
ones  that  believe  in  Jesus.  "  A  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  the  theory  was  entertained,  that  children  could  be 
converted.  But  there  was  not  that  confidence  in  child 
conversion,  which  would  have  led  to  special  efforts  in 
their  behalf.  That  form  of  skepticism  is  not  yet  extinct. 
When  the  conversion  of  adults,  who  have  perhaps  lived 
two  score  years  in  sin,  is  heralded,  the  report  is  credited. 
But  when  it  is  stated  that  a  large  number  of  children 
have  come  to  Jesus,  heads  are  shaken  and  the  hope  is 
expressed  that  the  work  is  genuine.  Careful  workers 
are  misled  at  times  in  regard  to  children.  But  quite  as 
often  in  regard  to  adults.  And  I  venture  to  say  that  as 
large  a  proportion  of  the  latter  class  fall  away  as  of  the 
former,  when  received  on  profession  of  faith  into  Bap- 
tist churches.  But  the  saddest  phase  of  doubt  is  seen  in 
the  indifference  of  many  parents.  The  Jews  looked 


66  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

upon  the  age  of  twelve  as  the  age  of  responsibility.  And 
many  parents,  themselves  Christians,  fail  to  see  the  need 
of  conversion  until  fourteen  or  fifteen. 

While  these  conditions  have  rendered  the  work  more 
difficult,  there  has  crept  into  many  hearts,  especially  of 
Sunday-school  teachers,  a  great  longing  for  the  salva- 
tion of  those  under  their  charge.  Prayers  and  efforts  in 
that  direction  have  been  rewarded.  The  phenomenon 
has  been  with  increasing  frequency  repeated,  of  child- 
life  surrendered  to  Jesus.  Rich  rewards  to  Sunday- 
school  work  are  gleaned  in  souls  saved,  as  also  in  the 
moulding  and  influencing  of  Christian  character.  Does 
any  one  question  the  fertility  of  the  work  ?  The  work 
of  saving  the  fallen  and  reclaiming  the  wandering  costs 
unceasing  toil  and  thousands  upon  thousands  of  dollars 
yearly.  The  Sunday-schools  are  maintained  by  penny 
collections  and  hours  of  labor,  and  far  greater  returns  are 
witnessed. 

The  increase  of  interest  in  and  labor  for  the  saving  of 
little  ones  constitutes  a  revival  of  religion.  With  the 
revival,  arise  new  questions  and  suggestions  as  to  our 
relations  to  ''the  little  ones  who  believe."  Jesus  pro- 
nounces a  terrible  woe  on  any  who  may  offend  such.  In 
spite  of  the  warning,  those  are  not  wanting,  who  by  ex- 
ample and  precept  are  ready  to  poison  the  very  foun- 
tains of  young  life.  Eden's  innocency  was  not  a  suffi- 
cient safeguard  against  the  encroachments  of  the  sug- 
gester  of  doubt  and  sin.  Child  purity  of  thought  and 
life  ought  to  protect  it  against  any  and  all  foes.  But  it 
does  not.  To  the  class  designated  as  offenders  we  do 
not  belong.  But  because  there  are  such,  we  ought  to 


REV.  H.  M.   THOMPSON,  D.  D.  67 

be  thoroughly  awake  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  those 
who  in  a  sense  are  under  our  guardianship.  What  shall 
we  do  for  them?  How  may  we  defend  them?  How 
may  we  strengthen  them?  Responsibility  must  rest 
first  upon  the  parents.  None  should  come  nearer  the 
little  believer  than  they.  Next,  upon  the  pastor. 
Whether  he  knows  every  child  in  the  congregation  or 
not,  he  should  know  each  little  one  that  believes  in 
Jesus.  Next,  the  teacher  in  Sunday-school  must  look 
with  special  interest  upon  the  children  of  God.  Finally 
it  rests  upon  every  Christian  to  offend  not,  in  word  or 
deed,  but  on  the  contrary  to  take  the  deepest  interest  in 
every  such  child. 

Again,  we  must  heed  Christ's  injunction  to  Peter, 
"  Feed  my  lambs.  "  This  was  distinct  from  the  charge 
to  feed  his  sheep.  Recognizing  that  the  ordinary  means 
of  grace  may  be  too  high  in  the  rack  for  the  lambs, 
special  measures  must  be  taken  in  their  behalf.  More 
personal  work  will  be  demanded.  Children's  meetings 
will  be  regularly  required  in  coming  years,  just  as  the 
prayer  and  conference  meeting  is  now. 

In  all  our  work  for  children,  we  should  keep  definitely 
before  us,  what  our  purpose  is.  Am  I  wrong  in  assert- 
ing that  our  aim  is  chiefly,  the  development  of  Christian 
character?  The  terms  church  work,  training  in  church 
work,  are  rather  indefinite  terms  in  our  day.  Formerly 
they  were  understood  as  meaning  simply  spiritual  exer- 
ercises,  work  to  win  souls,  efforts  to  help  others  to  a 
higher  standard  of  living.  People  are  now  perplexed. 
Not  long  since  a  sister,  of  poor  health,  hesitated  about 
joining  a  church  because  her  health  would  not  allow  of 


68  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

an  active  entering  into  church  work.  I  asked  what  she 
meant  by  church  work  ?  If  she  referred  to  public  wor- 
ship, prayer  meeting,  communion  etc.  By  no  means, 
was  her  reply.  I  refer  to  socials,  suppers,  fairs  and  the 
like.  Judging  from  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers,  we 
may  well  wonder  what  else  Christians  find  to  do,  since 
they  are  constantly  racking  their  brains  to  find  some  new 
inventions  that  will  catch  the  pennies  of  our  modern 
Athenians  who  are  on  the  qui  vive  to  see  or  hear  some 
new  thing.  This  is  not  the  occasion  for  discussions  of 
the  pros  and  cons  of  this  class  of  church  work.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  in  the  training  of  child-believers,  I 
think  something  else  should  be  in  mind.  And  first  of 
all,  the  heart-life  begun  should  be  nourished.  The 
secret  of  God's  loving  presence  must  be  taught  the  child. 
He  must  learn  the  preciousness  and  strength  derived 
from  daily  visitations  to  the  throne  of  grace.  The  child 
that  keeps  thus  close  to  Jesus  is  safe  amid  temptations. 
Next  to  prayer  in  importance  in  maintaining  soul-life 
and  character  developments,  is  God's  word.  First,  as 
protection.  " Thy  word,  "  says  the  Psalmist,  "have  I 
hid  in  my  heart,  that  I  may  not  sin  against  thee.  " 
Again,  as  indicator  of  duty's  path ;  "Thy  word  is  a  lamp 
unto  my  feet  and  a  light  unto  my  pathway.  "  Herein  is 
sufficient  motive  for  each  to  study  prayerfully  and  care- 
fully the  word  of  the  Lord,  that  we  may  impart  it  to 
the  child-believer. 

While  the  heart-life  is  most  essential,  we  ought  to 
care  for  these  little  ones  in  their  relations  to  the  future 
and  God's  plan  of  saving  the  world.  Veterans  are  re- 
ceiving honorable  discharge  daily.  To  fill  the  vacancies 


REV.  H.  M.   THOMPSON,  D.  D.  69 

thus  caused,  promotions  are  taking  place.  The  entire 
rank  and  file  are  crowded  steadily  to  the  front.  The 
nature  of  the  work  done  in  the  next  century  depends  in 
great  degree  upon  the  training  of  the  little  ones  that 
believe  in  Jesus.  The  past  century  has  been  marked  by 
grand  progress  in  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord.  With  en- 
larged experience,  greater  wealth,  increased  facilities, 
ought  not  progress  to  be  manifold  greater  in  years  to 
come?  So  I  believe  it  will  be.  The  children  must  be 
trained  in  the  art  of  giving — giving  themselves  to  the 
Master's  use.  They  must  be  led  to  raise  their  voices  in 
advocacy  of  truth.  Their  small  voices  should  blend 
with  the  strong  voices  of  the  aged  in  petition  at  the 
throne  of  grace.  Hearts  must  be  moved  and  intellects 
trained  concerning  the  great  forward  movement  to  save 
a  lost  world.  This  is  no  small  undertaking,  though  it 
be  work  for  small  beings.  We  shall  be  fitting  souls  for 
heaven.  In  so  doing  we  shall  fit  them,  if  they  remain 
in  earth,  for  the  most  efficient  service. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

HON.    WILLIS    S.     BRONSON. 

This  audience  here  to-day  reminds  me  very  much  of 
one  that  gathered  here  in  1870,  when  the  Baptist  Sunday- 
schools  of  this  county  met  here  in  mass  convention. 
There  is  just  one  thing  that  I  particularly  remember 
about  that.  Dr.  Ives,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Sufneld,  a 
tall  man,  with  iron-gray  hair,  stood  upon  this  platform 
talking  that  day,  trying  to  impress  upon  the  superin- 
tendents and  teachers  the  importance  of  making  the  chil- 
dren love  them.  "Why,"  said  he,  "there  isn't  a  child 
in  Suffield  that  doesn't  love  me!"  That  is  precisely 
what  we  want  to  do,  superintendents  and  teachers.  We 
want  to  make  all  the  children  in  our  several  classes,  and 
every  child  in  the  neighborhood,  if  possible,  and  every 
child  in  the  school,  if  we  have  a  sufficient  influence,  love 
us ;  not  love  us  because  we  are  great,  not  because  we  are 
handsome,  but  because  they  see  in  us  that  character  which 
helps  us  to  desire  their  very  best  good.  But  enough  of 
this. 

The  Committee  kindly  sent  me  an  invitation  to  say  a 
few  words  to  this  mass  meeting.  They  didn't  tell  me 
what  I  should  talk  about,  and  so  I  have  a  right  to  talk 
about  anything  I  please,  but  they  knew  that  I  take  to  the 


WILLIS    S.    BRONSON. 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  HON.    WILLIS  S.  B  RON  SON.          71 

Sunday-school  as  naturally  as  a  duck  takes  to  water,  so 
they  probably  knew  just  what  I  would  talk  about. 

I  cannot  be  expected  to  give  you  very  much  of  the 
history  of  our  school  in  the  short  time  that  is  allotted  to 
me,  but  I  want  to  give  you  a  synopsis  of  it.  I  want  to 
tell  you  about  its  origin.  I  want  to  show  you  that  when 
the  schools,  the  Sunday-schools,  of  Hartford  were  or- 
ganized that  they  were  organized  by  all  the  denomina- 
tions together,  in  harmony. 

I  had  a  pamphlet  in  my  possession  for  a  long  time, 
giving  some  facts  in  regard  to  this  matter,  but  when 
I  went  to  look  for  it  I  could  not  find  it.  Finally  I 
thought  of  a  man  who  could  give  me  these  facts,  and  I 
wrote  to  him  and  asked  him  to  do  so.  He  has  sent  me 
a  letter  which  gives  a  history  of  the  origin  of  our  Sunday- 
schools  in  Hartford.  And,  as  I  have  so  much  to  say,  and 
so  little  voice  with  which  to  say  it,  I  will  ask  our  pastor 
to  read  that  letter. 

THE  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  TIMES 
EDITORIAL  ROOMS, 
1031  WALNUT  STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA,  March  19,  1890. 
MR.  W.  S.  BRONSON, 

Hartford,  Connecticut. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  BRONSON: — 

About  thirty  years  ago,  Mr.  Zephaniah  Preston  compiled  from  the 
records  of  the  "  Hartford  Sunday-school  Society,"  which  was  organized 
May  sth,  1818,  important  facts  connected  with  the  beginning  and  early 
work  of  that  Society.  A  copy  of  his  pamphlet,  given  to  me  by  him,  en- 
ables me  to  answer  your  questions  concerning  the  beginning  of  your 
Sunday-school. 

April  and,  1818,  "a  meeting  of  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Town  of  Hartford  was  holden,  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety 


72  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

of  establishing  a  Sunday-school  in  said  Town."  The  Rev.  Abel  Flint 
was  chairman  of  that  meeting,  and  Seth  Terry,  Esq.,  clerk.  At  that 
time  there  were  only  four  churches  within  the  city  limits;  one  Baptist, 
one  Episcopal,  and  two  Congregational. 

At  that  meeting  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  for  the 
organization  and  management  of  a  Sunday-school.  That  committee 
reported,  at  an  adjourned  meeting  held  on  May  sth,  a  constitution  for 
the  society;  and  a  Board  of  Officers  was  chosen.  May  i2th,  1818,  it 
was  decided  to  open  four  Sunday-schools,  all  under  the  general  over- 
sight of  the  Society  :  "  No.  i  at  the  North  Conference  Room  ;  No.  2  at 
the  Episcopal  Church  ;  No.  3  at  the  Baptist  Meeting-House  ;  and  No.  4 
at  the  South  Chapel."  Joseph  B.  Gilbert  was  appointed  Superintendent 
of  School  No.  3.  May  26th  six  teachers  for  School  No.  3  were  ap- 
pointed :  Miss  Delia  Bolles,  Miss  Minerva  Farnsworth,  Miss  Mary 
Smith,  Mr.  Sylvester  Beach,  Mr.  Edward  Bolles,  and  Mr.  George 
Sumner. 

On  the  second  Tuesday  of  June,  Benjamin  Hastings  and  Jesse  Savage 
were  appointed  visitors  of  School  No.  3.  August  nth  "a  committee 
was  appointed  to  visit  such  families  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  with  a 
view  to  influence  them  to  send  children  to  the  schools."  This  committee 
for  School  No.  3  was  Jeremiah  Brown,  Jesse  Savage,  and  John  Bolles. 

October  i3th,  1818,  reports  showed  that  about  500  scholars  on  an 
average  were  in  attendance  at  the  four  schools,  each  Sunday.  It  was 
also  voted  that  the  schools  take  a  vacation  from  the  last  Sunday  in 
October  to  the  first  Sunday  in  April.  You  will  see  by  this  that  the 
vacation  idea  was  in  the  minds  of  the  Hartford  Sunday-school  workers 
from  the  beginning. 

On  the  committee  appointed  at  the  first  meeting  to  prepare  a  plan  of 
organization,  the  Rev.  Elisha  Cushman,  Mr.  Joseph  B.  Gilbert,  Mr. 
Jeremiah  Brown,  and  perhaps  others,  from  your  church  were  members. 
Mr.  Jeremiah  Brown  was  the  first  treasurer  of  the  Society,  and  the  Rev. 
Elisha  Cushman  came  first  on  its  list  of  directors,  while  Mr.  Joseph  B. 
Gilbert  was  also  a  director. 

In  the  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Connecticut  Sunday-school  Union, 
given  at  New  Haven  May  4,  1826,  I  find  a  mention  of  your  Sunday- 
school  as  having  one  superintendent,  fifteen  teachers,  and  "about 
sixty-eight  scholars"— in  average  attendance,  I  suppose. 

In  the  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  Hartford  County  Sunday-school 
Union,  made  April  8,  1829,  I  find  your  school  reported  as  having  "one 


HON.    WILLIS  S.   BRONSON.  73 

superintendent,  two  assistant  superintendents,  thirty-four  teachers,  and 
one  hundred  and  ninety-five  scholars.  The  average  attendance  in  sum- 
mer, is  about  one  hundred  and  eight, — in  winter,  about  ninety."  By 
this  it  would  seem  that  your  school  at  that  time  had  winter  sessions,  and 
that  its  increase  had  been  great  within  three  or  four  years.  Its  library 
then  contained  about  two  hundred  volumes.  The  Rev.  Barnas  Sears 
was  at  that  time  your  pastor. 

The  concluding  extract  from  your  report  at  that  time  was,  "At  pres- 
ent a  good  degree  of  zeal  and  activity  prevails  in  our  school,  and  we 
hope  it  is  increasing. " 

Hoping  that  these  facts  will  be  of  interest  to  you,  I  am 
Yours  sincerely, 

H.  CLAY  TRUMBULL. 

(After  the  letter  was  read  by  the  pastor,  Mr.  Bronson 
continued  as  follows:) 

I  might  with  propriety  sit  down  now,  having  furnished 
this  matter  of  historical  information  with  reference  to 
the  early  days  of  our  school.  But  you  will  notice  Deacon 
Joseph  B.  Gilbert's  name  is  mentioned  there,  as  the  first 
superintendent  of  the  school.  I  suppose  it  would  be  ad- 
mitted that  our  school  has  been  at  least  ordinarily  suc- 
cessful ;  that  its  numbers  and  its  character  have  been 
equal  at  least  to  ordinary  schools.  And  I  attribute  that  in 
a  great  degree  to  the  character  of  the  man  who  organized 
it.  Deacon  Gilbert  had  no  superior  for  integrity,  for 
uprightness,  for  a  pure  and  noble  Christian  character.  I 
speak  whereof  I  know  with  reference  to  him,  because  I 
was  associated  with  him  in  business  from  the  time  that  I 
was  22  years  of  age  until  his  death. 

I  may  say  our  school  has  always  been  a  united  one. 

Thirteen  years  I  was  the  assistant  superintendent  of  the 

school  and  twenty-five  years  superintendent.     In  all  those 

years  I  do  not  know   of  any  serious  trouble   that  has 

6 


74  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

occurred  in  our  school,  no  serious  difference  of  opinion. 
And,  to  give  you  an  example  of  the  unanimity  and  har- 
mony in  which  the  school  acted,  I  will  say  that  they 
practically  elected  me  those  thirteen  times  assistant  su- 
perintendent almost  unanimously,  practically  unani- 
mously. So  they  did  the  twenty-five  times  I  was  super- 
intendent. And  with  about  the  same  unanimity  they  let 
me  go  at  the  end  of  the  time.  So  you  see  they  are  unani- 
mous in  whatever  they  take  hold  of.  They  go  together. 

In  1859  the  school  had  a  total  enrollment  of  300  with 
an  average  attendance  of  245 .  In  1866,  the  enrollment 
was  614.  In  1877,  it  was  556  and  the  average  attend- 
ance 342. 

I  feel  that  it  is  an  honor  to  me  to  have  been  a  member 
of  our  ^school  for  so  many  years.  I  feel  that  it  is  an 
honor  to  anyone  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  school. 
It  has  occupied  a  high  position  in  this  community,  as 
high,  perhaps,  as  any  other  school.  It  has  had  honora- 
ble men  and  women  as  its  teachers  and  scholars. 

I  can  recall  to  mind  Deacon  J.  G.  Bolles,  the  John  of 
the  apostles,  who  was  superintendent  then,  Deacon 
Joseph  B.  Gilbert,  Deacon  Brown,  Deacons  Clapp,  Can- 
field,  Knowlton,  and  various  other  persons,  whose  names 
I  have  not  here.  They  came  into  the  school  in  times 
that  tried  men's  love  for  the  truth.  And  how  many 
there  are  who  have  gone  out  from  among  us  to  occupy 
honorable  positions  in  the  community. 

Let  me  speak  of  that  noble  band  of  men  who  were 
members  of  our  Sunday-school  and  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  preaching  the  everlasting  gospel.  I  may  not 
have  all  of  them.  I  have  some  of  them.  If  any  of 


HON.    WILLIS  S.  BRONSON.  75 

you  know  of  others,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  have 
you  give  us  the  names.  Dr.  Hodge,  George  W. 
Pendleton,  Rev.  S.  M.  Whiting,  Rev.  Lester  Lewis, 
Rev.  M.  C.  Twing,  the  Bronson  brothers  (they  are 
not  in  the  order  in  which  they  went  into  the  ministry) ; 
Rev.  Stephen  Page,  Rev.  Elisha  Cushman,  Jr.,  Rev. 
Henry  E.  Robins,  and  Rev  Dr.  George  M.  Stone, 
whom  you  have  with  you  to-day.  I  have  taken  a 
little  liberty  in  mentioning  the  name  of  Dr.  Stone,  but 
he  was  a  member  of  our  school  for  about  three  months ; 
during  the  vacation  season  he  was  here  visiting  friends 
and  relations,  and  came  into  our  school.  He  was  a  very 
fine  young  man,  and  has  proved  to  be  a  very  excellent 
middle-aged  man.  Rev.  Cornelius  Wells  was  another. 
How  many  of  you  will  remember  him?  Rev.  Daniel 
J.  Glazier  I  spoke  of  the  other  night,  so  I  will  not  stop 
to  do  it  again  here.  I  find  it  is  said  of  Rev.  Thomas  S. 
Barbour,  in  our  Sunday-school  records  that  in  1866  he 
was  present  52  Sundays,  which  was  doing  very  nicely 
for  him.  I  name  also  Rev.  Jas.  H.  Arthur,  Rev.  Dr.  Lu- 
cius E.  Smith,  Rev.  H.  H.  Barbour,  and  Rev.  Halsey  W. 
Knapp,  William  Ward  West  and  Rev.  Benjamin  Gower. 
All  of  these  have  gone  out  from  our  Sunday-school  to 
preach  the  gospel.  What  an  influence  they  must  be  ex- 
erting in  all  parts  of  the  earth!  Some  of  them  have 
come  back  to  us  to-day,  and  others  would  have  been  re- 
joiced to  do  so,  but  found  it  impossible. 

What  shall  we  say  of  all  this  great  band  of  noble  men 
and  women  who  have  not  become  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel, but  have  gone  out  into  all  parts  of  our  land,  and  I 
may  say  of  the  earth,  doing  their  life-work,  carrying 


76  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

with  them  the  principles  of  eternal  truth,  as  taught 
them  while  in  our  school?  Undoubtedly  their  influence 
though  quietly  exercised  is  immense.  It  is  not  always 
the  most  demonstrative  thing  that  does  the  most  good, 
but  it  is  the  consistent  life,  daily,  weekly,  yearly,  in 
whatever  occupation  we  are  engaged. 

Now  I  want  to  speak  to  you  a  moment  of  the  children 
and  the  grand-children,  the  Sunday-schools,  that  have 
left  our  school.  The  South  Baptist  school  was  organized 
in  1834.  The  Grand  Street  Mission  went  from  the 
South  Baptist  school.  It  is  now  the  Washington  Ave- 
nue school,  a  sort  of  grand- daughter  to  this  school. 
Then  the  Bethel  Mission,  worked  and  supported  by  this 
school,  finally  culminated  in  the  church  on  Windsor 
Avenue.  The  school  is  now  held  on  Suffield  street. 
Then  comes  the  Asylum  Avenue  school.  See  how 
the  influence  has  spread,  and  is  constantly  spread- 
ing. It  shall  never  be  lessened,  but  continually  increase 
until  the  last  day  shall  come  and  the  sheaves  shall  be 
gathered  home. 

Now  a  word  to  the  teachers  and  scholars  with  refer- 
ence to  the  influence  that  you  might  exert,  in  addition  to 
all  that  you  do  exert,  with  reference  to  bringing  recruits 
to  the  Sunday-school.  I  suppose  not  one-half  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  city  under  20,  are  in  the  Sunday-school 
anywhere.  They  are  not  studying  the  Bible  anywhere. 
Now,  I  want  to  know  if  such  a  mighty  band  of  men  and 
women  as  there  is  here,  if  they  should  set  their  hearts 
to  work  at  it,  could  not  go  out  and  gather  in  every 
child,  every  young  man  and  woman  and  by  their  in- 
fluence lead  them  to  become  students  of  the  Bible. 


HON.    WILLIS  S.  SRONSON.  77 

The  work  is  only  just  begun.  It  is  only  a  hundred 
years  since  the  church  was  organized,  and  only  seventy- 
two  years  since  the  schools  were  organized  in  this  city, 
and  yet  what  strides  they  have  made !  If  they  made 
this  progress  under  such  difficulties  in  the  past,  if  they 
have  made  it  with  so  little  influence  in  the  past,  how 
much  more  might  be  accomplished  in  the  future,  if  we 
would  all  work  for  that  purpose ! 

How  much  we  have  heard,  and  do  sometimes  now 
hear,  in  the  public  press,  with  reference  to  Sunday- 
school  superintendents,  and  teachers,  Wanamaker  for 
example,  and  the  influence  of  schools.  They  are  con- 
stantly going  forward,  constantly  progressing,  constantly 
making  their  divine  impress  upon  the  hearts  of  the  com- 
munity. And  they  shall  never  cease  until  that  blessed 
Bible  shall  be  in  every  hand  and  impressed  upon  every 
heart. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.    J.%    KITTREDGE     WHEELER. 

Pastor  of  the  South  Baptist  Church,  Hartford. 
"PLANTED    IN  THE  COURTS  OF  THE  LORD." 

I  am  sure  we  are  all  proud  of  our  mother,  and  I  do 
not  think  she  has  any  occasion  to  be  ashamed  this  after- 
noon of  her  fair  and  beautiful  children,  who  join  with 
her  in  this  centennial  service. 

I  was  not  privileged  to  be  with  you  this  morning,  on 
account  of  illness  in  my  family,  but  my  heart  was  here. 
And  by  "my  heart"  I  mean  one  of  your  daughters,  to 
whom  I  am  married,  the  South  Baptist  Church. 

When  Brother  James  spoke  to  me  of  this  Centennial, 
I  said  to  him,  "James,  we  will  do  whatever  you  may 
ask,"  and  so  we  are  here  with  you  to-day,  our  fair,  good 
mother,  for  the  morning,  and  the  afternoon,  and  the 
evening,  and  for  all  day  to-morrow. 

I  am  glad  to  see  the  children  here  this  afternoon. 
What  would  a  centennial  church  service  be  without  rec- 
ognizing the  Sunday-school  and  the  children  ?  And  yet, 
while  I  say  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here,  children,  I  have 
been  feeling  sorry  for  you  all  day,  and  especially  during 
this  session,  because  I  know  it  is  getting  to  be  lengthy 
and  wearisome  to  you. 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.  J.  K.    WHEELER.  79 

I  have  been  thinking  of  a  story  which  I  read  some 
years  ago.  The  lesson  in  Sunday-school  was  in  regard 
to  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and  a  very  faithful  teacher 
asked  her  class  why  it  was  that  the  eunuch  went  on  his 
way  rejoicing  (you  know  it  states  that  he  ' '  went  on  his 
way  rejoicing"  after  meeting  Philip),  and  one  bright 
boy  answered  quickly,  to  the  discouragement  of  the 
teacher,  ' '  Because  Philip  had  got  through  a  teachin'  of 
him!" 

You  want  to  go ;  and  perhaps  it  is  time  you  should  go. 
You  would  be  glad  to  go  now  "on  your  way  rejoicing," 
but  we  have  not  quite  finished  torturing  you  yet.  We 
have  a  little  more  "centennial"  for  you.  You  may  not 
have  the  privilege  of  being  here  at  the  next  one ;  so  you 
must  try  to  bear  it. 

I  was  to  say  a  word  about  tree  planting,  or  the  setting 
out  of  trees,  by  which  I  mean,  figuratively,  the  "plant- 
ing or  setting  out"  of  a  boy.  Now,  a  boy  has  to  be 
"planted,"  a  boy  has  to  be  "set  out,"  just  as  well  as  a 
tree,  before  he  can  grow.  You  will  find  in  the  Q2d 
Psalm,  somewhere  at  the  close  of  the  psalm,  these 
verses :  '  *  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the  palm- 
tree;  he  shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon.  Those 
that  be  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  flourish  in 
the  courts  of  our  God.  They  shall  still  bring  forth  fruit 
in  old  age;  they  shall  be  fat  and  flourishing."  I  see 
that  the  idea  or  thought  which  the  Psalmist  has  here  in 
mind  is  that  planting  a  tree  is  like  planting  a  man,  or 
setting  out  a  boy,  because  he  said,  "The  righteous  shall 
flourish."  This  is  the  greatest  figure  which  he  could 
possibly  use :  ' '  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm- 
tree." 


80  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

Every  boy  knows  a  great  deal  about  a  palm,  so  far  as 
dates  are  concerned;  we  get  one  pound  for  ten  cents, 
three  pounds  for  a  quarter.  These  palm-trees  grow 
in  the  desert  and  have  no  leaves  until  you  come  to  the 
very  top.  And  there  they  are ;  a  crown  of  great,  green, 
waving  leaves,  which  seem  like  the  waving  plumes  of  a 
king.  They  grow  a  hundred  or  more  feet  in  height, 
and  they  bear,  in  this  tuft  of  leaves,  great  clusters  of 
fruit,  sometimes  three  hundred,  sometimes  four  hundred 
pounds,  and,  they  tell  me,  sometimes  as  many  as  six 
hundred  pounds  on  a  single  palm-tree.  I  think  dates 
ought  to  be  a  little  cheaper  than  they  are. 

Well,  this  book  says  that  a  boy  who  is  planted  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  shall  be  like  a  palm-tree.  These 
palms  are  not  much  affected  by  drouth,  and  not  much 
disturbed  by  rain,  for  they  have  their  roots  down  deep 
through  the  sand  in  the  moist  soil.  And  so  they  lift  up 
their  heads  and  laugh  at  the  fierce  sun. 

And  so  in  regard  to  the  cedar  of  Lebanon.  That  is 
the  greatest  tree  that  we  know  anything  about,  or  that 
the  Psalmist  knew  anything  about.  They  are  there,  cen- 
turies old.  Some  of  them  have  been  known,  the  iden- 
tical trees,  three  hundred  years  ago,  living  still.  Here 
is  a  great  figure ;  that  a  boy,  planted  in  a  certain  place, 
is  to  be  like  the  palm-tree ;  he  is  to  be  like  the  cedar  of 
Lebanon. 

We  do  not  all  have  the  same  opinion  as  to  where  a 
boy  ought  to  be  planted.  But,  boys,  if  you  were  to  set 
out  a  tree  to-morrow,  and  it  is  time  now  for  tree-plant- 
ing, you  would  look  out  for  the  best  kind  of  soil,  and  for 
the  very  best  place.  And  you  would  expect  the  tree  to  do 


REV.  J.  KIT TR EDGE  WHEELER.  81 

best  if  you  put  it  in  the  best  place.  If  you  wanted  a  tree 
to  grow  fair  and  strong,  and  be  fruitful,  and  cast  forth 
its  shade,  and  live  down  the  centuries,  you  would  seek 
out  one  of  the  best  places  you  could  possibly  find  for  it. 
Because  if  the  soil  be  good,  the  tree  responds  to  it ;  if  the 
soil  be  poor  and  sandy  and  gravelly,  the  tree  feels  it.  So 
we  want  the  best  place  for  the  tree.  They  used  to  set 
out  these  palm-trees  in  the  palace  courts,  in  these  shelter- 
ed, sunny,  favored  places,  and  there  they  grew  strong 
and  beautiful.  Where  do  you  think  is  the  best  place  to 
plant  a  boy  ?  I  know  of  one  father  who  planted  his  son 
in  the  saloon.  And  I  said  to  him,  ' '  That  is  a  poor  place  to 
plant  a  boy. ' '  I  know  some  mothers  who  are  very  anxious 
to  plant  their  girls  in  society,  and  they  think  that  if  they 
can  get  them  rooted  there,  shallow  and  superficial  though 
it  be,  that  it  is  the  best  place  to  plant  them.  There  are 
some  fathers  who  are  only  anxious  to  plant  their  sons  in 
business,  in  money-getting.  And  if  they  can  plant  them 
where  they  can  make  money,  they  think  that  is  the  best 
place  to  plant  a  boy.  Well,  that  is  not  the  way  this 
word  of  God  reads. 

If  you  are  to  plant  a  tree  right,  you  must  know  some- 
thing about  the  nature  of  the  tree.  You  would  not  think 
of  planting  a  willow  on  top  of  a  rock,  where  the  cedar 
and  pine  grow,  but  you  would  plant  a  willow  down  by 
the  water- course.  You  would  not  think  of  planting  an 
oak-tree  or  a  hard-maple  there,  but  you  would  plant  it 
on  the  hill-side,  or  somewhere  in  deep,  dry  soil.  You 
want  to  know  the  nature  of  the  tree,  and  then  you  can  tell 
something  about  the  kind  of  soil  it  needs.  Look  at  a  boy, 
look  at  a  girl,  and  see  if  society,  see  if  money-getting, 


82  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

see  if  pleasure-seeking,  see  if  the  saloon,  is  a  good  place 
in  which  to  plant  them.  Well,  business  is  a  good  place, 
society  is  a  good  place,  to  a  certain  extent,  but  that  does 
not  cover  all  the  ground.  There  is  something  divine, 
something  godly,  in  a  boy,  and  so  he  must  be  planted  in 
such  soil.  A  few  weeks  ago,  when  one  of  our  Sunday- 
school  scholars  was  dying,  he  said  to  his  father,  « *  Father, 
I  wish  there  was  a  minister  here ;  I  wish  you  would  pray 
with  me,  father."  Dear  friends,  there  is  something  in 
the  nature  of  every  boy  and  girl  which  reaches  out 
towards  God.  There  is  a  divine  element,  there  are 
divine  characteristics,  there  is  a  godly  nature,  in  every 
boy  and  girl,  and  they  need  to  be  planted  in  sacred, 
divine  soil,  that  their  spiritual  nature  may  be  nourished. 

Now,  I  was  saying  that  the  tree  responds  to  the  soil,  to 
the  external  conditions  or  circumstances.  I  was  buying 
some  roses  some  years  ago  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  I  was 
selecting  them  because  of  their  color,  and  also  because 
of  their  fragrance.  And  so  among  the  plants  in  the  con- 
servatory I  picked  up  a  flower  and  said  to  the  florist, 
"That  is  fragrant,"  and  he  said,  "Yes."  Then  I  picked 
up  another  and  said,  "This  is  fragrant."  "  No,"  said  he, 
"that  is  not  fragrant."  I  raised  it  up  again,  and  said, 
"Yes,  that  is  fragrant."  "No,"  said  he,  "you  are 
mistaken,  but  it  was  close  to  a  rose  that  is  fragrant,  and 
so  it  borrows  its  perfume." 

I  remember  reading  some  years  ago  of  a  little  fellow 
who  came  in  from  the  street  one  day  into  the  Sunday- 
school.  He  had  never  been  there  before.  He  had  never 
seen  the  children  in  bright  faces  and  bright  clothing. 
When  he  came  home  they  asked  him  where  he  had  been. 


REV.  /.  KITT R EDGE  WHEELER.  83 

"  Been  among  the  angels,"  he  said!  He  had  been  bor- 
rowing sweetness  from  the  Sunday-school ;  he  had  been 
inhaling  perfume  from  the  roses  of  the  Sunday-school ! 
There  is  no  place  in  which  to  plant  a  boy  or  girl  so  good 
as  the  Sunday-school.  Sometimes  when  I  go  home 
after  some  club-meeting  or  something  of  that  kind,  I 
don't  go  very  often,  for  they  smoke  me  out,  my  chil- 
dren begin  to  sniff,  and  they  say,  "You  have  been 
smoking."  They  know  I  don't  smoke,  but  perhaps  they 
think  I  have  fallen  from  grace ;  so  they  ask  me  about  it, 
and  I  tell  them  where  I  have  been.  Well,  these  exter- 
nal conditions  always  tell  where  we  have  been.  If  a  boy 
is  planted  in  a  saloon,  or  on  the  street,  or  where  those 
obscene  pictures  are,  where  those  vulgar  stories  are  told, 
you  can  tell  it  when  he  comes  near  you.  I  think  you  can 
see  it  in  his  face  and  eyes !  He  responds  to  these  ex- 
ternal conditions  and  circumstances,  to  his  surround- 
ings. No  boy  or  girl  is  ever  a  member  of  a  Sunday- 
school  for  a  month  without  borrowing  perfume,  without 
inhaling  the  sweet  fragrance  of  the  room.  That  is  a 
good  place  to  plant  a  child. 

I  suppose  my  time  is  up,  but  there  is  one  other  ques- 
tion I  want  to  speak  of  for  a  moment,  the  time  to  "  set 
out"  a  boy.  When  would  you  set  out  a  tree?  I  believe 
in  setting  out  a  tree  very  young.  I  may  not  be  author- 
ized to  do  so,  but  I  will  make  a  confession  for  some  of 
you  gratuitously  here  this  afternoon.  Some  of  you  do 
not  believe  in  setting  out  trees  very  young.  There 
was  a  member  of  one  of  our  Sunday-schools  represented 
here  to-day,  who,  last  week  in  family  worship,  after 
reading  the  Sunday-school  lesson,  was  asked  by  his 


84  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

father  to  pray.  This  is  a  true  story ;  I  have  it  on  good 
authority.  They  all  kneeled  down,  and  after  a  moment 
the  little  fellow  began  to  pray,  he  is  nine  years  old,  and, 
among  other  things,  he  said,  "O  God,  help  us  to  be  good ; 
not  so  good  that  we  can  just  slip  through,  but  so  good 
we  can  get  in  anywhere!"  I  think  that  boy  is  old 
enough  to  "set  out,"  old  enough  to  "plant"  in  the 
church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  would  be  glad  to 
welcome  him  and  to  see  him  there  to-day.  But  some  of 
you  don't  believe  in  setting  them  out  early.  You  want 
to  wait  until  they  have  great  tap  roots,  and  big  branches ! 
I  have  seen  them  setting  out  such  trees  in  Chicago.  They 
are  impatient  out  there,  and  can't  wait  for  a  tree  to  grow 
after  they  set  it  out.  And  so  they  get  a  big  tree,  as  big  as 
a  man's  body,  and  it  is  a  strange  looking  thing.  It  looks 
more  like  an  electric-pole  than  like  a  tree,  with  all  the 
roots  cut  off,  and  it  has  got  top-heavy  and  heady,  and 
you  have  to  cut  off  the  top,  and  cut  off  its  branches,  and 
then  guy  it  up  with  ropes.  And  then  you  must  wrap  it 
around  with  a  straw  or  hay  rope,  and  keep  watering  it,  and 
set  a  man  to  watch  it.  And  then  after  it  has  stayed  there 
for  a  few  months,  if  the  summer  is  a  little  dry,  you  must 
pull  it  over  and  carry  it  away,  for  it  is  dead.  It  could 
not  live.  It  was  set  out  too  late ;  the  conditions  were  not 
right  for  its  growth.  Now,  many  believe  in  setting  out 
"trees"  when  you  have  to  cut  off  these  tap-roots,  and  the 
arms,  and  the  branches,  and  the  head,  and  what  a  look- 
ing tree  that  is  to  come  into  the  church !  Forty  to  Sixty 
years  old !  I  believe  in  setting  out  trees  very  young ! 
Many  of  us  do  not  like  to  receive  children  into  the  church, 
to  plant  them  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord !  Suppose  a  man 


REV.  J.  KIT TR EDGE  WHEELER.  85 

should  go  into  an  orchard,  and  the  nurseryman  would 
say,  "  Here  is  a  young  tree,"  and  the  man  asks  "  Has  it 
blossomed?"  "No."  "I  don't  want  a  tree  that  hasn't 
blossomed!"  "  Here  is  a  very  good  tree."  "Has  this 
tree  borne  any  fruit?"  "No."  "Well  I  don't  want  to 
set  out  a  tree  that  hasn't  borne  fruit ! "  There  is  an  apple- 
tree,  fifteen  or  twenty  years  old,  laden  full  of  blossoms, 
laden  with  a  heavy  harvest  of  apples,  and  he  would  like 
to  take  up  that  tree,  with  all  its  apples  on,  and  carry  it 
off,  and  set  it  out !  But  what  will  be  the  result  ?  I  am 
willing  to  take  a  very  young  apple-tree,  just  a  sapling, 
one  that  has  never  borne  a  single  apple,  or  a  single 
blossom,  one  that  is  hardly  in  the  leaf,  and  then  set  it 
out  and  wait  for  it  to  grow.  Plant  it  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord.  For  by  and  by,  in  God's  providence,  under  the 
shower  and  the  sunshine,  and  its  nurturing  soil,  it  shall 
flourish  in  the  courts  of  the  Lord !  You  will  see  that  the 
men  who  are  strong  in  the  church  to-day  were  planted 
when  young.  The  presidents  of  the  colleges  and 
seminaries  of  to-day  were  planted  in  the  Sunday- 
school  in  early  boyhood.  I  have  their  records ;  I  have 
the  figures.  Many  of  the  presidents  of  our  colleges  and 
theological  seminaries  to-day  were  members  of  the 
churches  when  they  were  nine,  ten  and  twelve  years  old ! 
They  were  planted  early.  They  were  set  out  in  youth ; 
just  as  Moses,  Samuel  and  David  were.  It  takes  a  long 
time  to  grow  a  man,  and  if  you  wish  to  grow  him  stal- 
wart and  strong,  you  must  give  him  time  to  grow,  under 
the  most  favorable  conditions  possible.  If  you  wish  your 
boy  or  girl  to  become  a  man  or  woman  of  God,  and  a 
tower  of  righteousness  in  the  community,  you  must 


86  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

plant  them  in  childhood  in  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and 
they  will  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God.  When  Dr. 
Hartranft  of  this  city  stood  over  the  silent  form  of  the 
late  beloved  Dr.  Thompson,  he  said,  among  other  things, 
<  The  fairest  flowers  of  piety  are  the  growth  of  centuries, 
the  culture  of  the  ages." 

My  dear  friends,  these  are  not  my  words,  but  God's. 
The  best  place  to  plant  a  man,  woman,  boy  or  girl,  is  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  by  and  by  they  shall  become 
like  palm-trees,  and  like  the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 

Down  on  Wethersfield  Avenue,  and  now  I  am  done 
when  I  tell  you  this  little  story,  there  is  an  old  friend  of 
mine.  He  is  one  hundred  years  old.  He  is  just  cele- 
brating with  you  this  year  his  centennial.  He  is  a  grand 
old  monarch,  a  stately  and  glorious  giant ;  one  of  your 
proud  and  far-famed  New  England  elms.  Oh,  what  a 
majestic  trunk,  some  four  feet  or  more  in  diameter! 
What  grand  and  graceful  sweeping  branches, 
covering  a  circle  with  a  radius  of  fifty  feet!  We 
often  have  a  little  conversation  as  I  am  passing.  I 
speak  to  him,  and  thank  him  for  his  shade  in  summer 
and  for  his  strength  in  winter.  And  for  all  his  grand  and 
stately  proportions  I  honor  him.  Shall  I  tell  you  the 
history  of  that  tree?  I  only  learned  it  a  few  days  ago. 
A  little  girl  of  the  city  of  Hartford  was  out  in  these 
woods  somewhere,  or  on  these  encircling  hills,  and, 
coming  in,  she  pulled  up  a  little  twig,  just  a  little  slip, 
a  little  elm  twig;  one  that  she  could  wrest  from  the 
earth  easily  with  her  thumb  and  finger,  and  she  brought 
it  home  and  set  it  out  in  front  of  the  old  farmhouse. 
She  was  fifteen  years  old.  Let  me  see,  how  old  is  the 


REV.  J.  KITTREDGE  WHEELER.  87 

tree?  She  lived  to  be  ninety  years  old.  The  tree  was 
seventy- five  years  old  when  she  died.  She  died  twenty- 
years  ago.  It  is  the  monarch  of  a  century !  Planted  in 
that  fair  and  favorable  place  when  just  a  little  twig,  it 
has  now  grown  up  into  its  stately  proportions.  And 
sometimes,  when  the  midnight  winds  are  gathering  and 
the  storms  are  brewing  yonder  on  those  hills,  I  have 
thought  of  that  old  tree  and  the  battle  that  he  was  to 
have  with  the  storms.  But  he  welcomed  them  and 
laughed  at  them,  for  he  had  in  his  fibre  the  strength  of 
a  century ! 

Dear  friends,  if  this  psalm  had  been  written  in  Con- 
necticut, if  it  had  been  written  here  in  Hartford,  in 
regard  to  your  boys  and  your  girls,  it  would  have  said 
that  if  they  were  planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  they 
would  flourish  like  one  of  the  oaks  of  the  mountains,  that 
they  would  spread  abroad  their  stately  branches  like  one 
of  the  elms  of  your  happy  New  England ! 


SUNDAY   EVENING. 


JOSEPH    W.    DIMOCK. 


REMINISCENCES 

BY 

MR.    JOSEPH     W.    DIMOCK, 

Senior  Member  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Hartford. 

(When  Mr.  Dimock,  who  is  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  was  intro- 
duced, the  entire  audience  rose  to  greet  him.) 

I  have  been  requested  to  state  some  of  the  facts  con- 
cerning the  early  years  of  this  church. 

The  year  of  1814  was  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  church,  which  has  been  a  missionary  church 
from  its  organization.  It  was  on  Wednesday,  the 
3istof  August  of  that  year,  that  the  Baptist  Society, 
auxiliary  to  the  Baptist  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  was 
founded.  It  was  accomplished  through  the  influence  of 
the  Rev.  Luther  Rice,  who  went  out  as  a  missionary  in 
company  with  Dr.  Judson,  under  the  direction  of  the  Con- 
gregationalists,  to  India.  They  were  both  converted  to 
Baptist  principles  on  their  voyage  to  Calcutta,  and,  being 
left  in  that  foreign  country  without  organized  support, 
Mr.  Rice  returned  to  this  country  and  commenced 
organizing  foreign  mission  societies.  He  visited  this 
church  at  that  date,  and,  with  several  of  the  brethren, 
met  at  the  house  of  our  pastor,  the  Rev.  Elisha  Cushman. 
This  house  is  now  standing  on  Village  Street.  I  had  the 
privilege  of  being  one  of  those  present  on  that  occasion. 


92  REMINISCENCES  BY 

I  believe  that  this  was  the  first  direct  movement  in 
foreign  missions  in  this  state. 

At  the  same  time  the  church  enjoyed  a  special  out- 
pouring of  God's  spirit,  which  resulted  in  the  conversion 
of  about  fifty  persons.  And  nearly  all  of  them  were  young 
people.  It  was  considered  remarkable  that  nearly  all  of 
them  were  from  families  outside  of  the  Baptist  church. 

The  evening  meetings  of  that  period  were  generally 
held  in  private  houses  in  different  sections  of  the  city. 
And  the  labors  of  the  young  people  were  very  efficient  in 
building  up  the  church.  Before  that  time  very  few 
young  persons  had  been  encouraged  to  join  the  church. 

We  had  no  Sunday-schools  or  Bible-schools  at  that 
time.  But  in  1818  the  first  Sunday-school  was  organized 
in  the  basement  of  the  old  wooden  church  which  yet 
stands  on  the  corner  of  Temple  and  Market  Streets. 

My  first  Sunday-school  class  consisted  of  five  colored 
men,  the  youngest  of  whom  was  fifty  years  of  age. 

Within  my  time  the  membership  of  the  church  has 
sent  out  over  thirty  persons  as  preachers  of  the  gospel, 
one  missionary  to  Burma,  who  was  the  daughter  of  a 
former  pastor,  the  Rev.  Henry  Grew,  and  another  mis- 
sionary to  Japan,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Arthur. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  to  know  personally  all  the 
pastors  and  deacons  of  the  church  from  its  organization. 

When  Dr.  Turnbull  was  settled  as  pastor  of  this 
church,  Dr.  Hawes  sent  a  special  message  to  him  saying 
it  would  afford  him  great  pleasure  to  give  him  the  right 
hand  of  fellowship,  and  the  same  kind  feelings  were 
cherished  to  the  end.  On  several  occasions  he  occupied 
his  pulpit. 


MR.  JOSEPH  W.  DIMOCK.  93 

Dr.  Jackson's  pastorate  was  very  successful.  Seventy- 
five  persons  received  the  hand  of  fellowship  on  one 
Sunday. 

Deacon  Bolles  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  me,  and 
used  frequently  to  inquire  as  to  how  I  was  succeeding, 
etc.  He  would  come  into  my  room  every  few  evenings, 
and  if  I  had  two  candles  burning,  he  would  blow  one  of 
them  out.  If  I  had  two  sticks  of  wood  on  the  fire,  he 
would  take  one  of  them  off,  and  lay  it  on  the  corner  of 
the  fire-place.  As  I  said  before,  he  showed  himself  very 
friendly  to  me  through  all  my  connection  with  the  church. 

At  that  time  we  had  no  numbers  on  our  houses,  and 
no  lights  in  our  streets.  We  were  obliged  to  locate  a 
house  by  counting  so  many  houses  from  a  certain  point. 
We  had  no  steamboats  or  telegraph. 

I  will  add  that  I  have  been  connected  with  this  church 
for  seventy- four  years,  and  I  am  the  only  person  living 
who  was  a  member  at  the  time  I  joined  it. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.    THOMAS    S.     BARBOUR, 

Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  of  Fall  River,  Mass. 

It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  attempt  to  express  the 
pleasure  I  have  had  in  the  privilege  of  joining  in  this 
centennial  service.  And  yet  my  pleasure  is  in  some 
degree  mingled  with  pain,  particularly  at  this  moment. 
I  believe  I  have  a  feeling  of  sympathy  for,  say,  the  plum- 
ber, who  has  come  to  your  house,  and  in  the  confusion 
attending  his  effort  to  respond  to  your  call  has  neglected 
to  bring  along  the  necessary  tools.  I  succeeded  at  a  late 
hour  in  arranging  to  so  far  gratify  myself  as  to  make  the 
journey  to  this  city,  but  as  for  the  means  of  being  of  any 
service  to  the  committee,  and  to  those  who  have  gathered 
for  this  evening's  service,  that  is  a  different  matter. 
And  yet,  if  it  be  true  that  ' '  out  of  the  heart  the  mouth 
speaketh,"  it  seems  to  me  that  I  ought  not  to  lack  for 
fullness  of  utterance  to-night. 

To  say  that  this  church  is  to  me  what  no  other  church 
is,  or  ever  can  be,  is  to  say  a  very  matter-of-course  thing. 
I  was  almost  surprised  to  learn  that  the  church  is  only 
one  hundred  years  old,  and  thus  to  have  the  definite  in- 
formation that  there  actually  was  a  time  when  it  was  not 
in  existence.  I  suppose  if  anyone  had  asked  me  if  I 
thought  that  it  was  in  existence  before  the  year  1492,  I 
should  have  faltered  a  slow  "No,"  but,  somehow,  it 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.   T.  S.  B ARBOUR.  95 

always  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  necessary  part  of  the  life  of 
this  city,  and  of  the  life  of  the  world. 

I  shall  make  no  attempt  to  express  the  emotions  which 
are  awakened  in  my  heart  by  this  place  and  this  hour. 
There  are  many  before  me  who  do  not  need  any  expres- 
sion of  such  emotions.  The  language  of  their  own  hearts 
is  sufficient. 

Time  turns  backward  in  its  flight,  and  again  we  are 
children.  Again  we  follow  up  those  letters  upon  the 
wall,  and  count  them,  and  balance  them,  and  think 
something  of  their  significance :  « '  God  is  a  spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in -spirit  and  in 
truth."  Again  our  eyes  follow  up  the  high  arches  that 
seem  almost  to  reach  to  the  heaven  of  which  the  preacher 
is  speaking.  Again  familiar  forms  are  about  us ;  they 
steal  from  out  the  shadows,  and  are  with  us  again,  and 
the  long  pew  is  filled.  Again  we  see  familiar  forms 
before  us.  We  were  told  this  morning  that  every  address 
of  the  day  should  contain  some  reference  to  Deacon 
John  Bolles.  I  knew  a  Deacon  Bolles.  His  name  might 
have  been  John — "the  face  that  limners  give  to  the 
beloved  disciple" — but  he  bore  the  name  of  the  other  son 
of  Zebedee.  I  am  glad  that  I  am  old  enough  to  have 
known  him.  All  these  seats  are  filled ;  Deacon  Bolles, 
Deacon  Smith,  Deacon  Braddock,  Deacon  Howard,  of 
whom  two,  not  the  least  beloved,  remain  to  this  pre- 
sent time.  There  are  other  associations  connected  with 
this  house.  To  say  to  one's  self,  "  In  yonder  vestry  I 
knelt  and  asked  forgiveness  of  my  sins,  and  consecrated 
my  life  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  "Just  here  I  was 
buried  in  the  symbolical  grave,  and  rose  with  a  purpose 
of  newness  of  life."  "Just  here  I  stood,  a  boy  of  ten, 


96  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

and  looked  down  into  the  water,  and  out  upon  the  people, 
and  up  toward  God,  my  heart  filled  with  a  profound  joy, 
and  with  the  earnest  desire  to  testify  henceforth  forever 
my  gratitude  to  my  Savior  and  Lord."  "In  yonder 
pew  I  received  for  the  first  time,  for  how  many  times, 
those  sacred  emblems  which  spoke  of  the  Savior's  love, 
and  awakened  ever  anew  the  purpose  to  give  better  ser- 
vice to  the  Master."  To  say  to  one's  self  such  things  as 
these  is  to  awaken  thoughts  that  lie  too  deep  for  words. 
One  train  of  thought  I  am  unwilling  to-night  to  at- 
tempt to  repress.  It  has  to  do  with  the  central  form  of 
this  group  that  was  before  us,  the  one  pastor  under 
whose  leadership  I  was  a  member  of  this  church.  We 
have  heard  testimony  concerning  him  to-day  from  those 
who  were  fitted  by  the  years  and  the  experience  to  which 
they  had  attained  to  judge  of  him  as  I  could  not.  And 
yet  I  desire  to-night  to  bring  a  tribute  to  his  memory, 
though  it  be  but  the  tribute  of  childhood.  It  seems  to 
me  that  Dr.  Turnbull  had  a  rare  power  of  influencing 
childhood.  I  do  not  mean  that  he  was  peculiarly  a 
preacher  for  children,  I  do  not  know  that  he  was  that, 
but  he  was  something  better  than  that.  He  had  a  higher 
power  than  that  of  entertaining  children  for  a  half-hour. 
There  were  qualities  revealing  themselves  in  him  which 
drew  childhood  to  him  and  gave  him  a  strong  hold  upon 
its  affection  and  reverence.  I  thought  of  him  as  a  model 
of  all  that  was  noble  and  kindly.  I  did  not  think  of  him 
as  eloquent  or  learned.  I  thought  of  him  as  a  man  of 
God.  The  story  is  told  of  Whitfield  that  a  little  girl  was 
wont  to  refer  to  him,  in  her  childish  way  of  expressing 
her  thought,  as  "  Jesus  Christ's  man."  So  seemed  to  me 
the  pastor  whom  I  knew  in  my  relationship  to  this 


REV.   THOMAS  S.  B ARBOUR.  97 

church;  a  man  consecrated  to  Jesus  Christ.  He  was 
more  than  a  pastor  to  me.  If  I  were  permitted  to  choose 
whatever  word  I  might  please  to  characterize  what  he 
was  to  me,  I  should  take  from  out  the  divine  word  that 
term  which  is  used  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  the  term 
"  comforter,"  which  you  know  means  more  than  com- 
forter, the  counseller,  the  teacher,  the  guide,  the 
friend.  All  this  he  was  to  me,  and  if  it  be  right  for  one 
to  use  a  term  which  the  Lord  Jesus  used  of  himself  in 
his  relations  to  his  people,  if  it  be  right  to  speak  of  a 
pastor  as  an  under-shepherd,  may  we  not  speak  of  a  pas- 
tor as  an  under-comforter,  counsellor,  instructor,  guide 
and  friend  ?  All  this,  I  say,  he  was  to  me  in  my  early 
life.  It  was  by  his  side,  on  a  stormy  night  in  January, 
that  I  knelt,  we  were  alone  together,  he  was  willing 
to  give  his  time  that  he  might  lead  even  a  child  to  such 
a  knowledge  as  a  child  could  have  of  the  saving  grace  of 
Jesus  Christ,  it  was  when  kneeling  by  his  side  that  I 
gave  my  heart  to  Christ.  It  was  by  his  hand  that  I  was 
buried  in  the  baptismal  waters.  By  his  hand  I  was 
welcomed  publicly  into  the  membership  of  the  church. 
And  there  is  almost  no  one  among  the  profounder 
experiences  of  my  early  life,  whether  of  joy  or  of  sorrow, 
of  wandering  or  of  Christian  service,  with  which  he 
was  unconnected.  I  met  him  (I  do  not  know  that  many 
of  you  are  aware  of  this,  but  it  seems  to  me  a  fact  of 
interest,  surely  of  deepest  interest  to  me)  in  the  closing 
days  of  his  life.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  the  last  public 
service  which  he  performed  was  that  which  he  rendered 
for  me,  when  he  laid  his  hands  in  consecration  upon  my 
head,  as  in  public  prayer  I  was  set  apart  for  the  ministry 
of  the  word.  He  came,  at  my  request,  hundreds  of  miles, 


98  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

that  he  might  join  in  this  service.  I  remember  still  his 
voice,  not  quite  so  strong  as  of  old,  but  yet  full  of  fire 
and  fervor,  as  he  preached  the  word.  I  remember  our 
quiet  talk  together  of  the  things  of  the  past  and  of  the 
work  of  the  future.  So,  as  Elijah  tarried  with  the  young 
disciple,  he  tarried  with  me.  I  wish  that  it  were  possible 
for  me  to  continue  the  story  of  Elijah,  and  to  carry  out 
the  analogy  of  thought,  to  speak  of  the  finding  of  a 
mantle,  of  the  discovery  that  power  like  that  of  the 
teacher  had  descended  upon  the  disciple.  This  I  know 
at  least,  that  if  I  had  been  asked  at  that  time  to  express 
the  deepest  desire  of  my  heart,  it  could  not  have  been 
other  than  this :  that  a  double  portion,  the  chief -heir's 
portion  of  the  spirit  which  was  in  him  might  be  upon 
the  disciple  in  his  life's  work. 

But  such  an  hour  as  this  is  suggestive  not  alone  of 
personal  memories.  It  is  suggestive  of  certain  very 
serious  lessons.  The  hour  speaks  to  us  of  the  brevity  of 
our  mortal  lives.  Perhaps  that  is  the  strongest  impres- 
sion which  is  made  upon  one  who  returns  after  an  ab- 
sence to  the  scenes  of  his  earlier  life.  So  many  are 
gone,  and  those  that  were  in  manhood  are  growing  old. 
So  quickly  men  grow  old.  And,  though  those  among 
whom  they  remain  venerate  them,  their  thoughts  reach 
on  and  they  seem  as  exiles,  whose  home  is  beyond. 


' '  The  mossy  marbles  rest 
On  the  lips  that  they  have  pressed, 

In  their  bloom  ; 

And  the  names  they  love  to  hear 
Have  been  carved  for  many  a  year 

On  the  tomb." 


REV.   THOMAS  S.  B ARBOUR.  99 

And  we,  too,  so  soon  must  grow  old,  so  soon  must  pass 
on,  and  the  places  that  know  us  now  shall  know  us  no 
more. 

But  it  is  not  this  somewhat  melancholy  thought  that 
has  been  chiefly  on  my  mind  as  I  have  joined  in  the  ser- 
vices of  this  day  and  have  listened  to  those  who  have 
spoken  of  the  past.  The  apostle  Paul,  in  referring  to 
those  who  were  witnesses  of  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  after 
his  resurrection  from  the  tomb,  says  that  "some  of  them 
remain  unto  this  present,  and  some  have  fallen  asleep." 
Whatever  of  impressiveness  there  may  be  in  the  thought 
that  some  whom  once  we  knew  have  "fallen  asleep,"  it 
seems  to  me  that  there  is  equal  impressiveness,  and  that 
there  is  a  mighty  force  of  inspiration,  in  the  other 
thought,  that  "  some  remain  unto  this  present."  A  ven- 
erated brother  speaks  to  us  of  the  founder  of  this  church, 
speaks  from  personal  knowledge  of  those  who  were  the 
earliest  members  of  the  church,  speaks  of  every  pastor 
of  the  church.  Our  moderator  said  to  us  this  afternoon 
that,  though  none  of  us  might  see  the  second  centennial 
of  this  church,  many  of  us  would  see  those  who  should 
see  it.  So  the  generations  overlap  one  another.  « '  Some 
remain  unto  this  present."  Contemporaries  of  a  former 
generation ;  they  are  to-day  contemporaries  of  a  new 
generation  that  is  to  outlast  them.  "One  generation 
passeth  away,  and  another  generation  cometh."  But 
the  old  does  not  pass  until  the  new  has  come.  This  is 
God's  plan  for  human  life ;  a  plan  with  which  is  associ- 
ated all  of  progress  for  the  world,  a  plan  by  which 
knowledge  and  experience  are  handed  down  from  age 
to  age.  But  there  is  a  mighty  inspiration,  and  withal  a 


100  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

most  serious  suggest! veness,  in  the  thought.  What  is 
the  true  duration  of  any  human  life  ?  It  begins  with  the 
cradle ;  it  does  not  end  until  the  life  of  the  world  ends. 
On  in  a  continuous  line  reaches  the  development  of  the 
world's  life  from  the  first  moment  of  time  until  the  end 
of  time,  and  thus  the  generations  of  men  are  welded 
together  into  one  united  race,  and  the  life  of  men  is 
fused  together  into  the  one  progressive  life  of  mankind. 
"There  are  two  Theodore  Parkers,"  said  a  man  who 
was  dying  in  Italy,  "  one  of  them  is  dying  here  in  Italy, 
and  another  is  planted  in  America."  The  life  of  these 
godly  men  of  whom  we  have  been  hearing  to-day  is  still 
continuing.  Their  influence  is  still  making  itself  felt 
through  the  characters  and  the  lives  of  those  who  knew 
them  in  the  past.  And  so  our  influence  shall  remain. 
It  is  a  terrible  thought  for  one  who  is  squandering  the 
opportunities  of  life.  It  is  told  of  a  young  man,  dying 
after  a  life  of  sin,  that,  horrified  at  the  thought  of  the 
influence  which  he  had  been  exerting,  he  exclaimed  with 
dying  breath  "Bury  my  influence  with  me!"  But  of 
course  such  words  were  vain.  The  clods  of  the  valley 
covered  his  body,  but  his  influence  went  forth,  a  "Wan- 
dering Jew,"  shifting  up  and  down,  with  poison  in 
its  breath,  until  the  hour  when  the  body  shall  rise  to 
confront  it.  But  how  inspiring  is  such  a  thought  for  the 
true  and  generous  mind !  It  has  been  held  by  some, 
philosophical  systems  have  maintained  it,  that  in  this 
power  of  influencing  coming  generations  the  desire  for 
immortality,  which  is  in-born  and  ever  persistent  in  the 
soul  of  man  is  satisfied.  History  bears  witness  that  this 
thought  has  had  power  to  inspire  the  spirit  of  man  to 


REV.   THOMAS  S.  B ARBOUR.  101 

fidelity.  Do  you  remember  that  scene,  that  strange,  yet 
wonderfully  pathetic  and  inspiring  scene,  of  the  execu- 
tion of  the  Gerondists  of  France?  The  moderate  repub- 
licans, resisting  the  wild  excesses  of  the  extremists,  seek 
with  their  own  bodies  to  stem  the  tide.  But  the  flood 
proves  too  strong,  and  the  furious  waters  sweep  them 
from  off  their  feet.  They  are  condemned  to  death,  and 
are  about  to  suffer  by  the  guillotine.  Believing  that  the 
cause  of  liberty  will  yet  triumph,  and  triumph  the  sooner 
for  their  martyrdom,  they  joyfully  submit  themselves  to 
their  fate.  You  recall  perhaps  how  the  vast  throng 
gathered  about  the  courtyard,  how  the  five  rude  carts 
appeared,  four  forms  in  each,  how  the  multitudes  rent 
the  air  with  their  fierce,  malignant  execrations?  And 
do  you  remember  how  the  shouts  of  the  multitude  sud- 
denly grew  hushed  and  another  sound  arose  upon  the 
morning  air.  Clear,  swelling,  harmonious,  it  burst  from 
the  lips  of  the  condemned,  the  voice  of  song,  the  song 
of  patriotism,  the  national  song  of  France?  "Come, 
children  of  your  country,  come ;  the  day  of  glory,  dawns 
on  high!"  And  when  the  scaffold  was  reached,  the 
song  was  still  sounding ;  and  when  one  and  another  lay 
beneath  the  knife  and  yielded  up  his  life  in  his  country's 
cause,  the  song  sounded  on,  growing  fainter  in  volume, 
but  not  less  clear  and  resolute.  And  when  at  last  the 
intrepid  leader  alone  remained,  the  song  rose,  still  un- 
faltering, from  his  lips,  "  Come,  children  of  your  coun- 
try, come;  the  day  of  glory  dawns  on  high."  The  knife 
falls,  and  the  song  is  broken  off,  but  to  be  revived  again 
by  the  awakening  heart  and  conscience  of  the  nation. 
Friends,  if  men  who  have  the  motive  of  patriotism  only 


102  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

to  move  them,  are  inspired  to  such  fidelity  by  the 
thought  of  the  service  which  they  are  able  to  render  to 
future  generations,  by  what  spirit  think  you  should  those 
be  animated,  behind  whom  is  the  cross  of  the  Son  of 
God,  above  whom  is  a  risen  Lord,  before  whom  is  a 
world  of  suffering  and  sin.  Shall  there  not  be  awak- 
ened within  us  the  earnest  purpose  to  do  all  that  lies  in 
our  power  to  make  this  world  a  kindlier  place,  with 
more  of  helpful  influence,  with  less  that  tends  to  the 
soul's  ruin  and  more  that  develops  the  soul's  life  ?  How 
grand  to  live  members  of  a  company  which,  unlike  that 
of  the  angels,  to  which  time  brings  no  increase,  is  a 
race,  with  unborn  multitudes  pressing  on  to  receive  from 
our  hands  their  legacy ! 

If  any  thought  is  fitted  to  strengthen  the  influence  of 
such  an  inspiration  as  this,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  is  the 
thought  to  which  our  minds  are  turned  in  connection 
with  this  service,  the  thought  that  we  have  been  called 
to  membership  in  a  church  of  Christ.  How  shall  we 
fail  to  recognize  in  such  a  relationship  the  inspiration  to 
the  highest  service  ?  The  origin  of  this  church  lies 
farther  back  than  a  hundred  years  ago.  It  lies  in  that 
scene  in  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  from  the 
sepulchre,  and,  showing  to  his  disciples  his  hands  and 
his  side,  said  unto  them,  '  <  As  the  Father  hath  sent  me 
into  the  world,  so  do  I  send  you  into  the  world."  The 
word  "church"  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  name 
for  the  mission  of  the  Christian.  The  church  is  simply 
an  agency  by  which  the  mission  of  the  Christian  may  be 
accomplished.  I  do  not  think  it  is  possible  for  us  to- 
night to  venerate  too  highly  the  church  of  Christ,  but 


REV.   THOMAS  S.  B ARBOUR.  103 

it  is  possible  for  us  to  misplace  our  veneration.  It  is 
possible  for  us  to  venerate  only  the  body,  and  forget 
that  the  true  church  is  a  spirit  rather  than  a  body.  The 
spirit  is  greater  than  the  body.  The  service  to  which 
we  are  called  is  not  chiefly  the  maintaining  of  a  church 
organization.  It  is  the  loyal  fulfilling  of  the  purpose 
which  should  animate  and  energize  every  body  which 
is  entrusted  with  the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Let  us  never  forget  that  a  definite  purpose  is  represented 
by  a  church  of  Christ.  We  are  not  to  think  of  church 
organization  as  constituting  an  end  in  its  itself.  To 
maintain  church  organization,  to  build  fine  edifices,  to 
sustain  pleasing  services,  these  are  things  of  little  conse- 
quence in  themselves.  A  church  of  Christ  is  but  a  means 
to  an  end.  That  end  is  to  go  out  into  this  sinful,  busy 
world,  and  win  souls  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  hav- 
ing won  them  to  Christ,  to  reproduce  in  them  the  spirit 
that  was  in  Christ. 

I  believe,  friends,  that  this  has  been  the  animating 
purpose  of  this  church  in  the  past.  May  it  never  cease 
to  be  its  animating  purpose !  The  thought  of  the  past 
is  an  inspiring  thought.  But  more  inspiring  to  me  to- 
night seems  the  thought  of  the  possibilities  of  the  future. 
What  may  not  this  church  accomplish,  with  such  a  past 
behind  it,  with  such  traditions  lingering  with  it,  with 
such  resources  upon  which  to  draw,  and  with  so  length- 
ened a  career  before  it  ?  To  how  great  an  age  is  it  to  be 
supposed  that  this  church  shall  reach  ?  May  we  not, 
friends,  with  some  assurance  predict  that  this  church 
whose  hundred  years  of  life  we  are  now  commemorating 
will  endure  until  the  one  who  has  gone  to  a  far  country 
returns  to  reckon  with  his  servants  ? 


104  ADDRESS  OF  THE  REV.   T.  S.  B 'ARBOUR. 

As  in  his  sight,  may  the  membership  of  this  church, 
as  in  his  sight,  may  all  of  us,  do  the  work  which  is 
committed  to  our  hands.  And  thus,  at  last,  when  he  that 
soweth  and  he  that  reapeth  shall  rejoice  together,  may 
there  be  given  to  us  all  an  abundant  entrance  into  the 
joy  of  the  Lord ! 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.     HENRY    E.    ROBINS,    D.    D. 

A  distinguished  writer  on  the  Constitutional  History 
of  England,  with  keen  discernment,  points  out  that 
"the  roots  of  the  present  lie  deep  in  the  past,"  and  so 
maintains  that  ' '  nothing  in  the  past  is  dead  to  the  man 
who  would  learn  how  the  present  comes  to  be  what  it 
is."  Now,  this  is  as  true  of  churches  as  of  other  insti- 
tutions. We  do  well,  then,  to  recall  some  of  the  scenes 
of  the  past,  and  a  few  of  the  names  of  the  men  and  wo- 
men who  lived  and  wrought  here  in  holy  service.  For  we 
are  sheltered  in  a  spiritual  structure  of  which  they  laid 
the  foundations,  and  repose  under  the  shade,  and  eat  of 
the  fruit  of  trees  which  they  planted. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  reverence  for  the  past  which  is 
neither  just  or  wise.  No  man  runs  successfully  in  a 
race,  looking  backward.  The  victorious  soldier  has  his 
face  to  the  foe.  We,  being  Christians,  are  heirs  of  the 
future.  We  forget  the  things  which  are  behind  in  the 
urgency  of  present  duty,  and  in  the  joy  of  present  vic- 
tory. We  are  not  unmindful,  however,  that  the  history 
of  Christianity  has  its  churches  of  Asia;  that  desolation, 
alas !  not  rarely  reigns  where  once  was  prosperity ;  so  to 
admonish  us  not  to  mistake  flattering  appearances  for 
the  vigor  of  an  abounding  life ;  not  to  be  highminded, 


106  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

but  to  fear  in  the  midst  of  seeming  progress.  The 
wise  general  looks  carefully  to  the  threatening  con- 
ditions of  his  environment.  The  experienced  seaman 
scans  the  skies  with  alert  vision  to  detect  the  port- 
ents of  the  storm.  The  skillful  physician  omits 
from  his  diagnosis  neither  the  unfavorable  nor  the 
favorable  symptoms  of  the  patients'  case,  and  so 
commands  our  confidence.  And  so,  as  Christians  we 
should  not  imitate  the  folly  of  ostrich- wisdom,  but, 
rather,  look  steadily  on  the  dark  side  hopefully.  We 
should  not  forget  that  the  voice  of  prophecy  declares  in 
regard  to  the  great  captain  of  our  warfare,  "He  shall 
not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment  in 
the  earth."  His  course  has  been  onward  since  the  dawn 
of  human  history.  The  long  line  of  a  conquering  army 
is  often  driven  backward  at  points  by  the  fierce  onsets  of 
the  enemy,  while  yet  the  advancing  columns  of  the  army 
as  a  whole  are  sweeping  the  field. 

We  turn,  then,  to  the  past  to-day  to  quicken  our  grat- 
itude to  God  for  his  gift  to  us  of  those  by  whose  labors 
and  sacrifices  the  achievements  of  the  present  were  made 
possible,  and  to  draw  inspiration  from  their  example  for 
greater  conquests  in  the  future.  We  will  for  awhile  re- 
count the  virtues  of  those  whose  day  has  gone  down ; 
behold  the  serene  beauty  of  sun-set  skies  and  delight 
ourselves  in  the  calm  of  the  evening ;  and  then  turn  to 
the  sunrise,  and  with  the  light  of  the  morning  upon  our 
upturned  faces,  we  will  press  forward  in  the  work  which 
the  God  of  our  fathers  has  given  us  to  do. 

In  the  few  moments  allotted  to  me  in  this  service,  I 
am  expected  to  speak  of  some  personal  reminiscences. 


REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  107 

Standing  on  this  eminence  of  time,  I  look  back  upon  a 
little  more  than  half  of  the  years  of  the  century  past. 
Fifty-two  years  ago  this  church  opened  its  doors  to  me 
in  baptism ;  and  during  all  the  intervening  changes  of 
the  intervening  days,  its  hallowed,  loving  influence  has 
been  about  me  as  an  inspiration  and  a  shield.  Here,  on 
this  spot,  it  gave  me  ordination  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
The  voices  of  most  of  those  who  participated  in  the  ex- 
ercises are  silent  in  death ;  and  yet  how  distinctly  to  me 
do  those  tones  linger  within  these  walls.  Particularly 
do  I  recall  the  majestic  bearing,  the  gray  hairs  resting 
as  a  crown  of  glory  on  his  head,  the  fervid  utterance, 
the  firm  grasp  as  he  gave  me  the  hand  of  fellowship,  the 
tender  glance  of  the  eye,  of  Dr.  Dwight  Ives,  a  son  of 
thunder  in  the  pulpit,  whose  stern  fidelity  to  righteous- 
ness repelled  me  when  a  student  at  Suffield,  but  whose 
Johannean  tenderness  and  purity  and  eagle  vision  of 
spiritual  things  completely  won  me  in  later  years.  Here, 
too,  were  held  the  peace-bringing  funeral  services  of  my 
honored  father,  whose  dust  reposes  on  yonder  hill,  which 
looks  down  on  the  city  where  he  lived  so  long  and  which 
he  loved  so  well. 

The  form  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Hawes,  the  Nestor  of 
Connecticut  Congregationalism  of  that  time,  appears 
vividly  before  me  now  as  standing  beside  the  dead,  he 
uttered  tender  and  appreciative  words  of  his  friend  of 
many  years. 

At  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Dr.  Hawes,  who  was 
a  central  figure  of  the  Hartford  of  my  childhood,  the 
group  of  men  and  women  who  were  then  active  members 
of  this  church  rises  before  me.  I  seem  to  see  their 


108  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

faces ;  to  be  walking,  a  little  boy,  among  them.  Had  I 
an  artist's  skill  I  might  sketch  the  very  form  and  features 
of  many  of  them,  so  distinctly  are  they  present  to  my 
imagination.  General  Sherman,  in  a  recent  address  to 
his  Ohio  friends,  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  It  is  chiefly 
the  men  and  women  with  whom  you  associate  in  early 
life  who  have  the  greatest  influence  in  the  formation  and 
making  permanent  of  what  your  character  shall  after- 
ward be."  Believing  this  to  be  true,  I  have  reason  for 
profound  gratitude  to  God  that  my  childhood  was  pass- 
ed among  those  of  whom  I  have  spoken.  Simple  in 
habits,  pure  in  social  life,  of  inflexible  integrity,  of  high 
aims,  of  devout  spirit,  and  speech  seasoned  with  salt, 
religious  without  affectation,  grave  without  austerity,  'no 
better  men  and  women,  I  am  persuaded,  have  ever  lived. 
For  here,  let  it  be  observed,  we  speak  of  no  merely  nat- 
ural excellencies  of  character,  just  as  now  we  are  not 
speaking  of  any  merely  natural  organization.  These 
men  and  women  were  grouped  not  in  obedience  to  any 
merely  natural  impulse,  not  by  merely  social  affinities, 
nor  for  any  merely  earthly  ends.  The  profound  signifi- 
cance of  their  fellowship  is  missed  by  any  who  may  so 
think.  First  brought  into  fellowship  with  God,  by  the 
new,  celestial  birth  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  were  inevi- 
tably drawn  into  fellowship  with  one  another  by  the 
uniting  power  of  their  new  life.  Communion  with  God 
preceded  and  made  possible  their  communion  with  one 
another.  And  so  the  essential  principles  of  true  virtue, 
love  to  God  as  a  righteous  Father,  and  love  to  man  as 
bearing  the  image  of  God,  were  the  controlling  princi- 
ples of  their  lives. 


RE  V.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  109 

There  are,  indeed,  those  who  think  that  the  religion 
of  those  days  wore  too  sombre  an  aspect ;  and  that  the 
more  cheerful  tone  which  it  is  made  to  assume,  in  some 
quarters,  in  our  time  renders  it  more  attractive.  Now 
it  is  true  that  life  was  not,  then,  regarded  as  a  holiday 
affair ;  nor  were  the  cap  and  bells  thought  to  be  the 
proper  equipment  of  a  Christian.  On  the  contrary,  the 
tremendous  issues  which  hang  upon  our  earthly  proba- 
tion were  emphasized  with  tearful  earnestness,  and  the 
sacred  shadow  of  the  Savior's  cross  and  passion,  endured 
for  human  redemption,  subdued  into  reverent  demeanor 
those  who  bore  his  name.  A  profound  sense  of  sin  and 
a  correspondingly  profound  sense  of  the  Savior's  grace, 
for  the  two  go  hand  in  hand  in  an  indissoluble  wed- 
lock, gave  to  their  experience  that  peculiar  mingling 
of  humility  and  peace,  far  removed  from  levity,  on  the 
one  hand,  and  gloom,  on  the  other,  which  distinguishes 
the  Christian,  more  than  anything  else,  from  the  man 
of  the  world.  Now  this  aspect  of  religion,  as  presented 
to  me  in  the  communion  of  these  saints,  and  in  my 
Father's  house,  was  never  in  any  degree  repellant.  Far 
from  it !  If  at  any  time  my  wayward  spirit  chafed 
against  the  restraints  of  such  a  spiritual  atmosphere,  I 
joyfully  acknowledge,  what  I  very  well  knew  then,  that 
they  were  salutary.  Deeper  than  any  superficial  and 
momentary  antagonism  awakened,  was  the  irresistible 
and  profound  attraction  which  drew  me.  Those  of  you 
who  have  seen  Murillo's  Guardian  Angel  will  remember 
that  the  angel  is  represented  as  grasping  the  hand  of  the 
child  whom  he  is  leading,  meanwhile  looking  upon  his 
charge  with  a  countenance  expressive  of  benignant  solic- 


110  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

itude,  and  pointing  upward  with  outstretched  arm  to 
the  heavenly  glory  breaking  through  upon  them.  And 
so  this  church  of  my  fathers,  with  which  the  sweet  mem- 
ory of  my  childhood's  home  is  inseparably  united,  ap- 
pears to  me  to  have  been  the  Guardian  Angel  of  my 
infancy  and  youth.  I  sing  with  Addison,  in  view  of 
this  care  of  my  heavenly  Father: — 

"  When  in  the  slippery  paths  of  youth, 

With  heedless  steps,  I  ran, 
Thine  arm,  unseen,  conveyed  me  safe, 
And  led  me  up  to  man." 

One  influence  must  be  mentioned  which  contributed 
largely  to  give  a  certain  sternness  of  aspect  to  the  reli- 
gion of  the  days  of  which  we  speak.  A  soldier  who  has 
faced  death  in  the  "  imminent  deadly  breach"  will  bear 
a  sterner  visage  than  your  carpet  knight.  These  men 
and  women  were  nurtured  in  the  heroic  days  of  Baptist 
history.  If  not  themselves  heroes,  they  had  in  their 
veins  the  blood  of  heroes.  In  their  immediate  ancestry, 
many  of  them  had  suffered  spoliation  of  property,  im- 
prisonment and  social  ostracism  in  the  struggle  for  reli- 
gious liberty.  How  bitter  that  struggle  was,  what  high 
qualities  of  manhood  and  womanhood  were  demanded 
for  the  triumph  which  crowned  the  struggle  at  last,  we, 
of  these  days  when  we  enjoy  the  peace  which  their 
sacrifices  bought,  can  but  faintly  realize.  The  Baptist 
name  was  cast  out  as  evil.  That  the  Baptists  should 
triumph  seemed  to  many  of  the  best  Christians  as  the 
overthrow  of  Christianity  itself.  The  sentiment  of  Dr. 
Increase  Mather  (1677),  when  he  said,  "  I  believe  that 
antichrist  hath  not  at  this  day  a  more  probable  way  to 


REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  Ill 

advance  his  kingdom  of  darkness  than  by  a  toleration  of 
all  religions  and  persuasions,"  was  shared  by  the  most  of 
the  best  men  of  his  generation.  They  believed  that  the 
union  of  church  and  state  was  according  to  the  will  of 
God :  that  the  state  should  foster  and  support  the  church 
as  essential  to  the  purity  and  stability  of  the  state. 
Baptists,  on  the  other  hand,  demanded  a  total  separation 
of  church  and  state,  not  merely  toleration  of  differing 
religious  convictions.  Toleration,  they  maintained,  no 
earthly  power  may  assume  to  grant,  but  absolute  reli- 
gious liberty.  This  seemed  to  those  who  withstood  them 
akin  to  atheism.  Hence  they  were  opposed  with  all  the 
decision  and  earnestness  with  which  men  who  have 
sensitive  consciences  contend  for  that  which  is  noblest 
and  best.  With  equal  earnestness  they  met  that  opposi- 
tion, and  suffered,  in  many  instances,  the  loss  of  prop- 
erty, reputation  and  liberty  in  their  holy  warfare. 
Amid  the  perils  and  hardships  of  such  a  warfare,  men 
and  women  of  the  noblest  mould  were  nurtured ;  and  we 
may  well  thank  God  on  this  centennial  occasion  that  we 
can  claim  them  as  our  ancestry  in  the  faith.  As  illus- 
trating the  suspicion  with  which  Baptists  were  regarded 
by  the  majority,  and  as  illustrating,  also,  the  dawning 
of  the  better  day  in  which  we  live,  the  following  incident 
is  worth  recalling.  Deacon  John  Bolles  may,  I  suppose, 
be  justly  regarded  as  the  father,  under  God,  of  this 
church.  A  Christian  of  remarkable  devotion  and  without 
guile,  he  was  withal  a  wise  and  persistent  man.  When 
he  began  his  work  of  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
Baptist  cause  in  this  city,  a  zealous  friend  of  the  old 
order  of  things  waited  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  then 


112  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

pastor  of  the  Center  Congregational  Church,  and  in- 
formed him,  with  great  excitement,  that  John  Bolles 
was  attempting  to  ' '  set  up  a  Baptist  meeting  in  the 
city,"  as  the  informant  phrased  it.  The  good  doctor 
did  not  seem  as  much  alarmed  as  the  self-appointed 
messenger  thought  he  ought  to  be,  and  so  exclaimed,  in 
great  heat,  "What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?"  The 
wise  man  answered,  in  quiet  tones,  ' '  I  know  Deacon 
Bolles,  and  I  am  sure  that  if  you  and  I  get  to  heaven,  we 
will  surely  find  Deacon  Bolles  there ;  and  so  I  think  we 
had  better  try  to  live  on  good  terms  with  him  here." 

The  days  when  Baptists  were  under  civil  disabilities 
were  long  since  passed  in  my  childhood,  nevertheless  the 
old  prejudices  against  them  had  still  a  vigorous  life.  It 
cost  much,  in  many  ways,  to  avow  our  distinctive  prin- 
ciples. "  I  am  glad  that  I  am  a  Baptist,"  said  Dr.  Wes- 
ton,  now  president  of  Crozer  Theological  Seminary,  to 
me  on  one  occasion  when  we  had  been  discussing  our 
denominational  history  and  work.  Yes,  I  replied,  but 
why  ?  What  thought  is  just  now  in  your  mind?" 
"This,"  he  responded,  "there  is  no  body  of  men  on 
earth  in  which  there  are  so  many  who  must  say  with 
Luther,  in  that  supreme  moment  of  his  history,  at 
Worms,  '  Here  I  stand ;  I  cannot  do  otherwise.  God 
help  me!  Amen.'"  Among  those  whom  I  remember 
as  having  become  Baptists  in  obedience  to  conscientious 
convictions  in  spite  of  the  cost,  was  Mrs.  James  G.  Bolles. 
She  always  bore  the  impress  of  that  nobility  of  character 
which  such  a  moral  sacrifice  as  that  which  she  made 
always  gives.  Of  vigorous  intellect,  well  trained  and 
well  informed,  a  heart  sensitive  to  the  highest  motives. 


REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  113 

and  a  will  capable  of  resistance  or  aggression,  she  was  a 
woman  of  great  influence  in  the  church  to  which  duty 
bound  her.  Her  special  service  to  the  church,  as  I  re- 
member her,  was  as  teacher  of  the  infant  class  in  the 
Sunday-school.  I  shall  never  cease  to  thank  God  for 
her  instruction  and  influence.  I  do  not  recollect  that 
she  devoted  herself  to  the  amusement  of  her  pupils.  But 
she  did  that  which  was  far  better,  she  won  our  respect 
and  our  undying  affection  in  that  she  brought  us  to 
Christ  and  Christ  to  us,  impressing  our  young  minds 
with  moral  and  spiritual  truths  which  have  ever  since 
asserted  their  saving  power.  "Thou  God  seest  me," 
was  the  legend  on  one  of  the  cards  hanging  upon  the 
walls  of  that  sacred  room,  to  which  her  presence  lent  its 
peculiar  charm.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  awe  with 
which,  a  very  little  boy,  I  pondered  those  words,  and 
took  into  my  soul  one  of  the  first  and  most  important 
lessons  in  theology  which  I  have  ever  learned.  When 
inexorable  time  compelled  me  to  graduate  from  her  care, 
it  brought  a  sorrow  of  which  I  have  still  a  keen  recollec- 
tion. Those  of  you  who  remember  our  former  house  of 
worship,  afterward  the  Jewish  synagogue,  know  that 
the  infant  class  was  held  in  a  small  room  behind  the  pul- 
pit of  the  vestry.  It  was  customary  for  the  graduating 
class  to  pass  out  in  procession  in  the  presence  of  the 
older  scholars  assembled  in  the  vestry.  And  so  with 
reluctant  steps  I  went  out  with  tears,  I  will  not  say  as 
one  leaving  Paradise,  but  one  of  the  dearest  spots  I  have 
known  on  earth.  Looking  back  and  weighing  well  the 
influences  which  came  upon  me  there,  and  which,  like 
ministering  spirits,  have  continued  with  me  more 


114  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

than  half  a  century,  I  am  constrained  to  say  that  my 
tears  were  justified.  The  feet  of  how  many  little  pilgrims 
were  put  on  the  way  to  the  celestial  city  by  that  saintly 
woman's  ministry,  eternity  only  will  reveal.  Happy 
they  who  follow  in  her  steps ! 

While  I  speak  of  her,  a  group  of  Christian  women 
seems  to  gather  about  me,  as  when  the  Mothers'-meeting, 
as  it  was  called,  assembled  in  the  house  of  some  one  of 
their  number.  Some  of  the  little  children  attended  these 
meetings.  Each  boy  sat  on  a  stool  or  hassock  beside  his 
mother,  while  hymns  were  sung,  the  Scriptures  read, 
prayers  offered,  and  loving  counsels  given.  My  first 
deep  impression  that  I  was  a  sinner,  needing  renewing 
grace,  came  upon  me  when  I  heard  my  mother,  in  that 
circle  of  godly  women,  with  gentle  voice,  pleading  with 
God  for  my  conversion.  These  mothers  had  a  beautiful 
custom  of  presenting  to  each  child  upon  its  leaving  the 
circle,  a  parting  letter  written  by  their  secretary,  then 
Mrs.  James  G.  Bolles,  full  of  wise  and  affectionate  coun- 
sels. These  letters  were  very  highly  prized  by  the 
children.  The  letter  given  to  me  was  kept  for  many 
years,  and  often  perused  with  abiding  interest.  Who 
can  doubt  that  the  Mothers' -meetings  were  a  part  of  that 
wisdom  of  the  past  which  the  present  may  imitate  with 
profit.  The  often-quoted  remark  of  the  late  Archbishop 
Hughes,  of  the  Roman  Church,  of  New  York,  "Give me 
the  first  five  years  of  a  child's  life,  and  I  care  not  who 
has  the  remaining  years, "  cannot  be  too  carefully  pon- 
dered. It  will  always  be  true,  as  Milton  sings, 

"  The  childhood  shows  the  man, 
As  morning  shows  the  day." 


REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  115 

The  religious  influences  which  encompassed  my  early 
years  found  their  natural  result  in  my  baptism  at  the  age 
of  ten.  As  vivid  as  if  the  time  were  yesterday  are  the 
scenes  of  that,  to  me,  memorable  day.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  Jackson  was  then  pastor  of  the  church.  He  was 
a  man  of  commanding  presence  the  very  personification 
of  pastoral  benignity.  As  I  timidly  put  my  feet  into 
the  water  to  descend  into  the  baptistery  he  took  me  in 
his  arms,  and  said,  "We  believe  in  infant  baptism," 
after  a  pause  adding,  "upon  profession  of  faith."  Then 
he  asked,  "  Henry,"  dost  thou  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  with  all  thine  heart?"  Upon  my  responding, 
"I  do,"  he  baptized  me  into  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  The  church  was  then  in  the  midst 
of  one  of  the  precious  revivals  in  its  history.  It  was 
such  a  work  of  grace  as  should  be  expected  under  the 
ministry  of  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Jackson.  The  impres- 
sion which  in  my  boyhood  I  had  received  of  his  singular 
piety,  of  his  integrity  clear  as  the  sun,  of  his  skill  as  a 
spiritual  leader,  was  confirmed  by  the  intimacy  of  those 
years  when  I  was  associated  with  him  as  colleague  pas- 
tor of  the  Central  church  in  Newport,  R.  I.  As  a  faith- 
ful under-shepherd  of  Christ's  flock,  I  do  not  see  how  he 
could  be  surpassed :  certainly  few  have  been  his  equals. 
Although  always  mindful  of  the  dignity  of  his  office, 
there  was  in  the  discharge  of  his  sacred  duties  a  remark- 
able absence  of  everything  which  savored  of  officialism,  of 
insincerity  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it.  The  reason  of  this 
may  be  found,  perhaps,  in  the  clearness  of  his  experi- 
ence of  the  grace  of  God  in  his  conversion.  His  faith 
stood  not  in  the  wisdom  of  men  but  in  the  power  of 


116  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

God.  He  was  to  his  heart's  core  a  believer  in  Jesus 
Christ.  He  knew  whom  he  believed.  This  inward  per- 
suasion of  the  truth  of  Christianity  which  never  wavered, 
distinguished  him  from  many  of  his  associates.  During 
one  period  of  his  service,  he  had  a  neighbor  in  the  min- 
istry who  was  a  man  of  learning,  a  genial  friend,  a  good 
preacher,  and  in  the  judgment  of  charity  a  Christian. 
Nevertheless  he  was  somewhat  self-indulgent,  not  pro- 
foundly moved  by  the  truths  he  preached,  a  favorite  of 
rich  men  of  convivial  habits,  popular  as  a  man  of  the 
world  among  men.  Some  one  well-acquainted  with  both, 
having  been,  one  day,  asked  which  of  them  he  liked  the 
better,  replied,  "  At  a  dinner-party,  Dr.  C.  ;  if  I  were 
on  my  death-bed,  Henry  Jackson."  The  skill  and  de- 
votion of  Dr.  Jackson  as  pastor  were  admirably  supple- 
mented by  the  skill  and  devotion  of  his  wife,  Mrs.  Maria 
T.  Jackson.  And  the  gracious  results  which  attended  his 
pastorate  here  were  the  fruit  of  their  joint  labors.  The 
beginning  of  the  revival  during  which  I  came  into  the 
church  was  marked  by  the  special  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  My  honored  father  was  in  the  pulpit  of  the 
vestry  with  Dr.  Jackson  at  an  evening  prayer-meeting. 
Both  were  impressed  during  the  progress  of  the  meeting 
that  there  was  something  unusual  in  the  spiritual  atmos- 
phere. After  a  moment's  interchange  of  thoughts,  Dr. 
Jackson  rose  and  expressed  his  conviction  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  moving  in  an  unusual  manner  upon  the 
hearts  of  those  present,  and  called  for  expression  of 
thought  and  feeling,  suggesting  that  each  one  should 
speak  to  the  one  nearest  him.  In  a  few  moments  in  all 
parts  of  the  room  were  persons  kneeling  in  prayer,  sin- 


REV.  HENRY  E.  ROBINS,  D.  D.  117 

ners  convicted  of  sin  and  Christians  pleading  with  God 
for  mercy.  It  was  at  once  a  Bochim  and  a  place  of  joy. 
Tears  of  repentance  were  exchanged  for  songs  of  deliv- 
erance. Although  I  was  but  a  child,  the  impressions  of 
that  hour  have  never  faded  from  my  mind.  The  work 
so  begun  went  forward  with  accelerated  power,  and  the 
effect  of  it  remains  in  the  church  to  this  day.  It  was  a 
time  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High. 

But  I  must  cease  to  weary  you  with  these  thronging 
memories.  Time  will  not  permit  me  to  speak  of  those 
whom  I  knew  here  in  subsequent  years.  Most  of  them 
now  worship  in  the  upper  Temple.  Many  are  still  bear- 
ing the  burdens  and  enjoying  the  benefits  of  your  fellow- 
ship, the  touch  of  whose  hands  and  the  sight  of  whose 
faces  make  me  young  again,  and  quickens  the  hope  of 
that  enduring  reunion,  where 

"  Those  who  meet  shall  part  no  more, 
And  those  long  parted  meet  again. " 

May  those  who  shall  fill  these  places  in  the  coming 
years  never  forget  that  there  is  but  one  Rock  upon 
which  a  living  church  can  be  founded,  even  Jesus  Christ : 
that  a  regenerated  membership  alone  can  constitute  a 
Baptist  church,  and  that  baptism  is  worse  than  an  empty 
ceremony  unless  it  is  a  veritable  symbol  of  the  death  to 
sin  and  resurrection  to  newness  of  life  of  him  who  sub- 
mits to  it. 


REMINISCENCES 

OF   THE 

REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 
BY  THE  REV.  GEO.  M.  STONE,  D.  D. 

I  wish  first  to  do  what  I  have  never  had  occasion  to  do 
before  under  circumstances  so  favorable,  to  pay  my 
tribute  of  thanksgiving  to  this  church  for  its  personal 
influence  over  myself.  Mr.  Bronson  was  kind  enough 
this  afternoon,  in  his  article  on  the  history  of  the  Sun- 
day-school, to  include  myself  among  those  who  were 
once  members  of  the  Sunday-school.  And  it  was  an  en- 
tirely legitimate  and  proper  thing  that  he  should  do  so. 
The  hinge  of  my  life  I  found  in  Hartford.  By  a  strange, 
truly  mysterious  Providence,  coming  from  the  First  Bap- 
tist church  in  Cleveland,  as  a  member  of  the  Sunday- 
school,  but  not  yet  a  member  of  the  church,  and  not  yet 
decided  fully  as  to  my  place  in  the  church  of  Christ,  I 
came  to  Hartford,  as  I  learned  afterward  to  decide  that 
important  point.  I  shall  never  forget  one  or  two  cir- 
cumstances. I  came  here  to  the  house  of  a  relative,  in 
which  I  found  boarding  several  members  of  this  church. 
It  is  to  the  honor  and  credit  of  this  church  that  those 
persons,  in  those  days,  made  religion  a  subject  of  con- 
versation at  the  table.  I  am  quite  sure  I  shall  bring  a 
smile  to  your  faces  when  I  tell  you  of  my  own  igno- 
rance of  religious  things  at  that  time.  The  topic  the 


ROBERT   TURNBULL,   D.D. 


REMINISCENCES  OF  REV.  DR.   T URNBULL,  D.  D.     119 

first  day  of  my  visit  to  my  friends  was,  the  doctrine  of 
election.  I  well  remember  the  intensity  of  feeling  with 
which  those  young  men  discussed  that  topic.  As  the 
discussion  began,  so  ignorant  was  I  at  that  time  of  any 
subjects  of  this  kind,  that  the  thought  came  instinctively 
to  my  mind,  I  wonder  when  this  election  is  going  to 
take  place !  And  I  was  exceedingly  interested  in  the 
coming  political  canvas.  But  just  for  a  moment,  and 
then  I  found  that  they  were  discussing  the  profoundest 
of  Christian  doctrines. 

You  will  allow  me  to  mention  the  names  of  a  few  per- 
sons then  in  the  church,  some  of  whom  remain,  and 
some  have  fallen  asleep,  who  impressed  me  particularly 
at  that  time:  James  G.  Bolles,  Deacon  Smith,  Deacon 
Braddock,  Edward  Bolles,  J.  W.  Dimock,  Carlos  Glazier, 
W.  S.  Bronson,  H.  H.  Barbour,  James  L.  Howard. 
There  was  an  individuality  among  these  men,  and  a 
peculiar  type  of  Christian  character,  which  led  not  to  my 
decision  on  the  subject  of  Christianity ;  I  had  decided 
that  before,  but  it  led  to  my  decision  to  cast  in  my  lot 
with  the  Baptist  church,  a  decision  which  I  have  never 
since  had  occasion  to  regret. 

But  I  have  another  reason  for  gratitude  to  this  mother 
church.  I  happen  to  be  the  guardian  of  her  youngest 
daughter,  eighteen  years  of  age ;  a  sprightly  maiden,  in 
the  bloom  and  beauty  of  her  youth.  And  I  want  to  say 
that,  although  not  all  the  members  of  that  church  came 
from  this  church,  that  a  word  spoken  by  a  gentleman 
who  sits  near  me  upon  the  platform  was  the  decisive 
word  in  its  organization.  I  want  to  thank  both  the  South 
and  the  First  church  for  this  fact,  that  I  have  had  so 
little  trouble  with  this  young  lady,  and  that  I  have  found 


130  REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 

her  so  attractive.  Indeed,  it  makes  me  young  again  to 
think  of  her ! 

There  are  a  few  personal  memories  connecting  myself 
with  Dr.  Robert  Tiirntmll,  to  which,  at  this  tender,  and 
to  me,  holy  hour,  I  should  be  personally  gratified  to  give 
expression. 

In  the  ministry  of  Christ,  I  am,  in  a  sense,  a  grand- 
son of  Dr.  Turnbull.  Dr.  Turnbull's  first  pastorate  in 
this  country,  in  1833  was  at  Danbury,  Connecticut.  He 
had  come  fresh  from  Scotland ;  fresh  from  the  instruc- 
tion of  Dr.  Chalmers,  of  Edinburgh,  having  previously 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Glasgow.  He  came  to 
be  pastor  in  the  old  church  of  which  I  afterwards  became 
pastor,  and  where  I  remained  for  seven  years,  in  Dan- 
bury.  .  It  may  interest  this  audience  to  know  that  the 
Danbury  church  was  organized  in  the  same  year  as  this 
church,  and  only  about  three  weeks  later.  And  I  hope 
soon  to  share  with  the  dear  brethren  in  Danbury  in  the 
centennial  of  that  old  church,  which  I  had  the  honor  to 
serve  in  my  maiden  pastorate. 

Dr.  Turnbull,  as  I  said,  was  my  grandfather,  in  the 
ministry.  He  went  from  Danbury  to  Detroit,  Michigan, 
where  was  his  second  pastorate,  in  this  country. 

On  an  evening  ever-to-be  remembered  by  some  of  us, 
a  godless  young  man  came  into  Dr.  Turnbull's  church ; 
he  came  to  scoff,  but  retired  to  pray.  An  arrow  from 
the  quiver  of  the  Almighty  God  and  the  redeeming 
Savior  found  its  way  to  the  heart  of  J.  Hyatt  Smith,  in 
that  young  city  on  the  frontier.  And  that  arrow  was 
aimed,  under  God,  by  the  master  hand  of  Robert  Turn- 
bull.  J.  Hyatt  Smith  bowed  that  evening  in  prayer, 


REV.  ROBERT  TURN  BULL,  D.  D.  121 

and  very  soon  felt  the  call  to  the  Christian  ministry. 
Years  afterward  a  young  man  in  Cleveland,  not  unlike 
in  the  spirit  in  which  he  went,  though  not  positively  to 
scoff,  found  an  arrow  from  the  quiver  in  the  hand  of 
J.  Hyatt  Smith,  and  he  bowed  to  Christ.  And  thus  I  am 
connected  in  a  mysterious  and  ineffably  sacred  way  with 
Dr.  Robert  Turnbull.  On  the  occasion  of  my  ordina- 
tion he  preached  my  ordination  sermon. 

Mr.  Howard:  "  Will  not  Brother  Stone  tell  the  audi- 
ence the  name  of  that  young  man  who  was  converted  in 
Cleveland?  I  think  it  would  be  interesting  to  them." 

Dr.  Stone  .•  "  I  prefer  to  be  excused.  You  know  in 
olden  times  they  used  to  stone  people  to  death,  and  I  do 
not  wish  to  inflict  any  such  punishment  upon  this  audi- 
ence as  to  Stone  them  to  death." 

Dr.  Turnbull  was  very  fortunate  in  his  antecedents. 
He  belonged  to  a  race  of  theologians.  He  had  a  strong, 
incisive  and  Scottish  mind.  Give  me  a  Scotchman,  if 
you  want  to  go  down  to  the  depths  of  Christian  experi- 
ence or  doctrine.  There  are  no  men,  not  even  the 
Germans,  who  go  to  the  very  roots  of  theology  as  these 
men  do.  And  think  of  the  time  in  which  Turnbull  was 
educated.  Think  of  that  wonderful  period  of  theological 
history  between  1830  and  1840,  when  more  people  were 
aroused,  than  in  any  other  decade  of  the  century,  and  I 
was  about  to  say,  any  other  century  until  we  get  back  to 
the  Christian  era.  Think  of  the  men  under  the  shadow 
of  whose  influence  Dr.  Turnbull  came !  Think  of  the 
life  of  Thos.  Chalmers !  Dr.  Turnbull  sat  at  the  feet  of 
Chalmers,  with  Robt.  McCheyne,  that  flaming  light,  the 
symbol  on  whose  escutcheon,  if  he  had  one,  would  have 
9 


122  REMINISCENCES  OF  THE 

been  a  burning  heart !  With  such  men  was  Dr.  Turn- 
bull  associated.  No  wonder  that  he  came  to  this  new 
land  with  the  momentum  of  mighty  truth  behind  him. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  intellectual  force.  He  united 
pure  thinking  with  a  life  that  was  consistent.  He  had  a 
mind  that  could  crystallize  truth.  He  could  take  a  clear 
view  of  a  subject.  I  remember  a  sermon  I  heard  him 
preach  away  back  in  those  days.  I  sometimes  get  a  good 
deal  discouraged  about  the  sermons  I  preach  myself, 
when  I  remember  how  many  I  have  forgotten.  The 
sermon  was  on  this  text :  ' '  When  Israel  was  a  child, 
then  1  loved  him."  It  was  on  the  simplicity,  the  child- 
like spirit,  as  characterized  in  a  Christian  life.  I  could 
not  forget  that  sermon.  And  then  I  remember  the  flavor 
of  humor  in  Dr.  Turnbull ;  it  was  very  pleasant.  I  re- 
member, at  my  house,  he  was  telling  of  a  visit  he  had 
made  to  his  old  home  in  Scotland.  His  father  was  then 
living.  He  said  he  had  forgotten  the  custom  of  giving 
thanks  at  the  close  of  the  meal,  as  well  as  asking  a  bless- 
ing at  the  beginning,  an  old  Scottish  custom  which  is 
still  kept  up  in  some  parts  of  that  country.  Dr.  Turn- 
bull  sat  down,  as  usual,  by  the  side  of  his  father,  an  old 
man,  bending  with  the  weight  of  years,  the  Doctor  now 
a  man  well-known  in  this  country  and  an  author,  whose 
books  had  gone  back  to  his  native  land.  Well,  he  said 
when  they  had  finished,  he  saw  that  they  lingered.  But, 
being  somewhat  in  a  hurry,  he  drew  back  to  leave  the 
table.  The  old  man  immediately  turned  and  caught 
hold  of  the  back  of  the  chair,  as  if  Robert  was  still  a  boy 
at  home,  and  pushed  him  up  to  the  table,  saying,  *  *  No, 
no,  you're  no'  doon'  yet !  An'  will  you  please  to  give 


REV.  ROBERT  TURN  BULL,  D.  D.  123 

thanks  to  Almighty  God ! "  And  then  they  were  ' '  doon ! " 
The  way  in  which  he  told  this  story  gave  it  a  flavor  of 
humor,  which  manifestly  was  as  serviceable  in  the  afflic- 
tions and  difficulties  of  the  pastorate,  as  the  same  gift 
of  humor  was  to  Abraham  Lincoln. 

His  consecration  ;  what  shall  I  say  of  that  ?  There  is 
one  thing  that  lingers  in  the  memories  of  a  great  many 
families  of  this  city  connected  with  the  personal  ministry 
of  Dr.  Turnbull.  It  was  his  custom,  as  he  came  into 
houses  where  infants  were,  to  consecrate  them  with 
his  own  hands.  It  is  not  appropriate  for  everybody  to 
do  that.  We  are  sometimes,  as  pastors,  charged  with 
indifference  to  child-life.  When  Dr.  Turnbull  came 
where  the  babe  was  sleeping  innocently,  he  went  to  the 
cradle,  and  putting  his  soft  hands  upon  it,  consecrated  it 
to  Almighty  God. 

This  place  is  not  too  sacred  to  draw  the  curtain  upon 
his  closing  moments,  and  to  go  quietly,  softly,  as  tread- 
ing on  holy  ground,  to  the  death-bed  of  Dr.  Turnbull. 
He  turns  to  his  daughter,  and  says  in  faint  whispers, 
"There  are  two  things  that  I  have  tried  to  arrange,  in 
view  of  my  going  away.  One  was  the  preparation  to  die. 
But  I  find,  to  my  surprise,  that  there  is  no  preparation 
for  me  to  make !"  As  another  said  concerning  the  river, 
"Why,  there  is  no  river  here !  It  is  a  dry  bed,  like  that 
over  which  the  children  of  Israel  passed,  as  the  waters 
went  out  of  sight  and  were  lost  in  the  Red  sea!"  "  One 
thing  more,"  he  said;  "  I  have  not  sufficiently  used  the 
Word  of  God."  "Why,"  said  she,  "Father,  you  were 
always  reading  it !"  "Oh,  "said  he,  "it  is  my  regret 
that  I  have  not  used  it  more!"  And  so  there  passed  a 
mighty  spirit  up  to  join  the  hosts  of  God's  elect. 


MONDAY   EVENING. 


JAMES  G.    BATTERSON. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

HON.     JAMES     G.     BATTERSON. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  GREAT  STRUGGLE  FOR  FREEDOM. 

The  American  side  of  our  planet  seems  to  have  struck 
a  centennial  belt,  and  all  things  which  have  survived  the 
full  period  must  needs  have  their  day  of  celebration.  But 
when  we  consider  what  has  been  accomplished  for  man- 
kind during  the  past  hundred  years,  it  is  fitting  that  we 
do  celebrate,  and  it  is  fitting  that  we  revive  and  revere 
the  memories  of  the  fathers  and  the  mothers  who  founded 
this  church,  and  died  in  its  service  and  its  communion. 
But,  as  that  filial  duty  has  already  been  well  noticed  by 
others,  I  shall  take  a  little  broader  survey  of  the  field,  to 
the  end  that  we  may  revive  and  consider  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  which  not  only  led  to  the  organization  of 
this  church,  but  of  all  other  Christian  churches  of  what- 
ever creed  or  denomination. 

We  may  look  forward  also  to  the  close  of  another  cen- 
tury, which  will  bring  us  very  near  to  the  end  of  the 
second  millennium  since  the  advent  of  Christ,  and  antic- 
ipate the  signs  of  the  times. 

This  church  is  but  one  of  the  various  sectaries,  whose 
only  reason  for  existence  consists  in  receiving  and  giving 
the  sublime  truths  which  our  Lord  taught  to  his  disciples. 


128  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

He  came  as  a  minister  of  peace,  and  the  herald  of  good 
tidings  to  all  men.  But  his  coming  sharpened  the  sword 
of  Jewish  and  Pagan  persecution  for  the  destruction  of 
all  who  then  believed  and  worshipped  in  his  name. 

To  have  been  a  Christian  in  the  time  of  Christ,  or  in 
the  most  enlightened  days  of  Greece  and  Rome,  was  to 
be  crucified,  to  be  torn  by  lions,  or  burned  for  the 
amusement  of  a  Pagan  mob.  To  have  been  any  thing  else 
fifteen  hundred  years  later,  or  even  to  have  questioned  the 
dogmas  promulgated  by  the  church  for  sectarian  and 
secular  ends,  was  exposure  to  the  rack  of  the  flames. 

Those  prophetic  words,  "  /  came  not  to  send  peace  but  a 
sword,"  have  proven  to  be  true  in  all  ages.  The  disciples 
did  not  fully  understand  their  meaning.  The  Gnostics  or 
the  knowing  ones  of  the  second  and  third  centuries  did  not 
understand  them.  And  the  Agnostics  or  know-nothings  of 
the  nineteenth  century  cannot  understand  them.  To 
one  they  have  always  been  a  stumbling-block,  and  to 
the  other  foolishness. 

But  so  it  has  been  in  all  Christian  lands  for  more  than 
eighteen  hundred  years,  that  for  Christ's  sake,  "  a  man's 
foes  should  be  they  of  his  own  household,"  setting  family 
against  family,  community  against  community,  nation 
against  nation,  and  all  for  the  service  of  God. 

The  bitterest  of  all  persecutions  have  been  led  by 
one  sect  of  misguided  Christians  against  another  sect 
better  than  themselves,  and  for  no  other  reason  than 
teaching  and  believing  in  Christ  and  him  crucified, 
without  adherence  to  the  dominant  creed. 

Thank  God  that  the  art  of  printing  and  common-sense 
have  brought  us  into  a  larger  liberty.  The  sword  has 


HON.  JAMES  G.  BATTERSON.  129 

been  verily  "beaten  into  a  plow-share,"  and  "the 
spear  has  become  a  pruning  hook."  We  can  now 
wrangle  until  we  are  tired  over  the  doctrines  of  origi- 
nal or  unpardonable  sin  without  sinning.  We  can  dis- 
agree as  to  the  doctrines  of  election,  reprobation,  tran- 
substantiation,  and  consubstantiation,  and  be  neither 
the  worse  nor  the  wiser  therefor.  The  early  fathers  did 
so  before  us,  and  the  children  will  do  so  after  us,  and 
nobody  will  be  hurt  any  more.  Those  who  will,  may 
baptize  their  infant  children,  and  satisfy  their  consciences 
for  having  performed  a  sacred  duty ;  while  those  who 
will  not,  need  have  no  fear  of  persecution  in  this  world, 
nor  of  the  limbus  infantum  in  the  next. 

Numerous  questions  both  of  faith  and  doctrine  which 
are  deemed  essential  by  some,  and  non-essential  by 
others,  cannot  be  settled.  The  arguments  on  both  sides 
are  based  on  the  same  evidence.  Constantine  the  Great 
determined  to  have  them  settled  in  his  day,  that  he 
might  have  a  little  peace  among  his  Christian  subjects. 
And  he  ordered  the  great  council  of  Nicaea  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  succeeded  in  suppressing  public  discussion  for 
a  time,  but  he  could  not  stop  men's  thinking.  And  the 
questions  remained,  as  they  were,  unsettled.  The  fires 
of  the  stake,  the  Inquisition,  the  anathemas  of  Popes, 
and  worse  than  all,  the  odium  theologicum  of  latter  days, 
have  all  been  hurled  at  the  poor  heretics  who  dared  to 
think,  and  dared  to  speak  their  own  opinions.  The  most 
terrible  of  all  cruelties,  and  the  most  painful  of  all  tor- 
tures, were  invented  as  the  proper  means  of  converting 
the  world  to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

But  we  have  lived  to  see  all  these  things  changed ; 


130  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

and  those  instruments  of  torture  now  hang  in  historical 
museums,  bearing  swift  witness  to  the  reign  of  bigotry, 
cruelty  and  ignorance. 

The  printing  press,  the  spelling  book  and  the  Yankee 
schoolmasters,  have  done  more  for  civil  and  religious 
freedom  than  the  thirty-nine  articles  have  accomplished 
since  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  The  printed  book,  which  costs 
but  a  trifle  in  the  nineteenth  century,  has  done  more  for 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  than  all  the  mediaeval  cathedrals 
which  cost  hundreds  of  millions.  The  chained  Bibles  in 
the  middle  ages  could  not  be  read  by  the  people,  and 
they  could  not  be  properly  explained  either  by  priest  or 
bishop.  Reading  and  thinking  in  those  days  were  crimes 
punishable  by  brutal  magistrates  who  could  neither  read 
for  others  nor  think  for  themselves. 

The  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  came  to  New  England 
for  freedom  to  worship  God.  But  the  freedom  they  sought 
for  themselves  they  denied  to  others.  They  were  Dis- 
senters who  could  not  tolerate  dissension.  They  were 
Christians  who  hewed  so  close  to  the  line  that  the  line 
was  cut  away  with  the  chips.  They  believed  in  witch- 
craft, persecuted  Quakers,  and  drove  the  Baptists  into 
the  wilderness  because  they  preferred  to  be  dipped  in  a 
river  rather  than  sprinkled  from  a  basin. 

When  the  doors  of  the  Puritans  were  closed  against 
Roger  Williams,  he  received  food  and  shelter  in  the 
wigwams  of  the  North  American  savage.  The  hospital- 
ity and  humanity  of  the  savage  were  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  bigotry  and  cruelty  of  the  Puritans.  Williams 
negotiated  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  Indians  and  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts,  and  thereby  saved  the  colony. 


HON.  JAMES  G.  BA  TTERSON.  131 

But,  notwithstanding  that  the  Puritans  would  not  re- 
voke the  decree  for  his  banishment. 

The  Indians,  whose  chief  was  Massasoit,  allowed  him 
to  settle  by  the  banks  of  the  Moshassuck  river,  where  he 
bought  land  and  erected  an  altar  to  God.  He  called  the 
name  of  the  place  Providence,  and  Providence  it  has 
been  called  unto  this  day. 

Bancroft,  the  historian,  bears  willing  witness  to  the 
fact  that  Roger  Williams  was  the  first  person  in  modern 
Christendom  to  assert  the  doctrine  of  perfect  freedom  for 
every  man's  conscience,  and  the  equality  of  his  opinions 
before  the  law.  We  now  celebrate  the  triumph  of  that 
doctrine,  which  is  perhaps  more  firmly  planted  in  the 
American  heart  than  any  other.  And  yet  the  continuing 
diversity  of  opinion  in  matters  of  conscience  leads  Christ- 
ian men  into  singular  necessities,  for  even  now  Protest- 
ants are  protesting  against  the  Protestantism  of  Cramner, 
Knox  and  Ridley,  and  their  creeds  are  being  revised  to 
suit  the  demand  of  the  times.  The  Puritans  have  been 
purified  out  of  their  own  name  and  place.  The  Refor- 
mation inaugurated  by  Martin  Luther  is  still  subject  to 
the  reforming  hands  of  the  Reformers.  Dissenters  are 
dissenting  from  Dissenters.  The  Separatists  have  separ- 
ated from  each  other  until  there  is  nothing  left  to  separ- 
ate. Even  the  modern  Baptists  are  not  yet  at  one  on 
the  questions  of  open  and  close  communion,  the  Lord's 
day,  and  other  points  more  or  less  essential.  And  yet 
all  these  are  looking,  hoping,  and  praying  for  the  con- 
version of  all  nations  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  the 
final  destruction  of  anti-christ.  Meantime,  men  of 
science  challenge  the  unscientific  treatment  of  all  religions 
and  of  all  doctrines. 


132  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

With  lamps  borrowed  from  foolish  virgins,  they  are 
seeking  for  the  infinite  where  all  else  is  finite ;  their 
lights  having  gone  out,  they  deny  what  they  cannot  see. 
So  also  the  believer  who  stands  in  the  sun -light  of  faith 
asserts  and  believes  what  he  cannot  prove  by  any  evi- 
dence which  is  acceptable  to  the  scientific  mind. 

The  man  of  science,  accustomed  to  the  investigation 
of  material  forces  and  the  phenomena  of  nature,  recog- 
nizes and  admits  the  laws  by  which  these  forces  and 
phenomena  are  governed,  but  he  denies  the  existence  of 
the  Law-giver,  because  he  cannot  penetrate  the  source  of 
his  power,  nor  comprehend  the  beginning  of  his  works, 
always  forgetting  that  the  God  he  seeks,  if  limited  to  the 
utmost  comprehension  of  the  human  faculties,  could  by 
no  possibility  exceed  in  knowledge  the  ambitious  worm 
who  would  fain  know  all  that  God  knows,  and  thus  be- 
come a  god  himself.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  he  would 
discover  a  god  no  greater  than  a  worm. 

In  the  current  literature  of  the  day,  Robert  Ellsmere 
sits  paralyzed  and  speechless  before  the  Sphinx  of  Ger- 
man philosophy,  which  mocks  at  his  devotion  to  human- 
ity, unsettles  his  faith,  fascinates  him  with  a  depth  of 
learning  and  logic  which  he  can  neither  answer  nor 
make  use  of,  and  drives  him  from  his  holy  vocation. 

John  Ward,  preacher,  whose  iron-clad  Puritanism  for- 
bids all  philosophic  or  scientific  investigation  which 
threatens  his  creed,  shrivels  his  soul  to  the  compass  of 
a  religious  fanatic  and  a  domestic  fiend,  reflecting 
nothing  which  bears  resemblance  to  Christianity,  but 
shows  us  a  mistaken  idea  of  Calvinism  without  Christ- 
ianity, and  drives  a  faithful  wife  from  his  door  for  the 


HON.  JAMES  G.  BA  TTERSON.  133 

discipline  of  her  soul,  because  she  cannot  understand  his 
creed. 

Scientific  sceptics  place  the  theologies  of  modern  times 
in  the  same  class  with  the  mythologies  of  ancient  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  deny  everything  which  cannot  be  demon- 
strated by  philosophy,  nor  analyzed  by  chemistry. 

Professor  Tyndall  even  proposed  to  test  the  efficacy  of 
prayer,  by  a  contest  between  prayer  and  medicine,  in 
the  wards  of  a  public  hospital. 

From  Voltaire  to  Ingersoll,  like  the  « « crackling  of 
thorns  under  a  pot,"  we  have  seen  repeated  assaults 
made  upon  the  bulwarks  of  Christianity  without  success. 

They  have  demonstrated  the  errors  and  the  folly  of 
the  British  Parliament  in  fixing  by  public  statute  the 
precise  day  of  creation  and  the  chronology  of  the  world, 
which  is  no  part  of  the  Scriptures.  They  have  demon- 
strated that  all  claims  made  to  the  verbal  inspiration  of 
the  Scriptures  are  without  foundation  or  authority. 
But  who  cares?  Christianity  is  not  dependent  upon 
any  of  these  things,  nor  yet  upon  any  of  the  creeds  or 
doctrines  which  have  been  invented  by  men. 

Christ  said  to  Matthew  "follow  me;"  and  he  arose 
and  followed  him.  These  two  words  were  Matthew's 
creed.  They  were  enough  for  Matthew,  and  they  are 
enough  for  all  who  come  after  him.  On  these  two  words, 
obedience  to  the  command,  Christianity  has  stood,  and 
will  forever  stand. 

We  celebrate  then  not  merely  the  survival  of  this 
particular  church  for  the  full  period  of  an  hundred  years, 
but  the  survival  of  the  Christian  religion,  which  is  the 
greatest  boon  to  our  common  humanity,  and  the  greatest 


134  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

of  all  powers  for  the  present  and  future  happiness  of 
mankind. 

Let  us  hope,  then,  that  when  this  church  is  called 
upon  to  celebrate  its  next  centennial,  it  will  be  able  to 
rejoice  in  the  complete  union  of  all  Christian  believers  of 
whatever  sect,  creed  or  denomination,  for  the  pure  and 
simple  work  of  extending  the  blessings  of  Christianity 
to  all  men. 

Let  us  hope  that  all  sectarianism,  and  all  differences 
of  opinion,  will  disappear  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord's 
table,  so  that  no  ministering  servants  of  God  will  then 
spread  a  table  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  presume  to 
deny  or  fail  to  invite  any  of  his  children  to  the  sacra- 
ment, lest  by  so  judging  they  may  themselves  be  judged. 
Even  Judas  was  invited  to  be  present  at  the  last  supper. 
He  was  unworthy,  and  known  to  be  unworthy,  but  no 
one  shut  the  door  against  him.  He  ate  the  passover, 
betrayed  his  Master,  and  then  went  to  his  own  place.  It 
is  not  pleasant  to  think  that  a  modern  Judas  like  his 
ancient  prototype  may  dip  his  hand  in  the  dish  and  be- 
tray the  innocent  blood,  but  the  church  has  not  been 
made  a  tribunal  for  his  judgment  before  the  fact. 

If,  then,  I  am  thus  found  to  be  a  dissenter  from  some 
of  the  tenets  of  our  own  church,  I  am  not  a  seceder,  and 
I  propose  to  stand  by  the  brethren,  if  they  will  let  me, 
until  they  are  converted,  or  until  I  am  converted,  of 
which  event  there  seems  to  be  very  little  hope  of  success 
on  either  side  within  the  time  left  to  us  by  the  tables  of 
mortality.  For  a  genuine  hard-shell  Baptist,  despite  all 
arguments,  will  insist  upon  his  point,  even  though  it 
leads  him  into  deep  water. 


HON.  JAMES  G.  BATTERSON.  135 

Why  is  it,  may  we  ask,  that  the  religions  of  Brahma, 
Mahomet  and  Buddha,  still  stand  in  the  presence  of 
Christianity?  Is  it  because  the  simple  truths  of  the  New 
Testament  have  been  weighed  down  with  dogmas,  doc- 
trines and  creeds,  which  have  grown  out  of  the  sectarian, 
party  spirit  of  Christianity  ?  Is  it  because  the  inventions, 
the  imaginations  and  the  pride  of  men,  have  supple- 
mented the  primitive  methods,  until  man-made  rituals 
and  doctrines  have  supplanted  the  original  methods  of 
the  New  Testament? 

Christianity  is  not  the  religion  for  a  sect,  nor  yet  for  a 
race,  but  for  all  mankind.  And  it  only  needs  to  be  puri- 
fied in  the  original  crucible,  and  separated  from  the 
additions  of  men,  to  become  the  religion  of  the  world, 
even  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

The  extermination  of  slavery  as  a  pseudo-christian 
institution  has  been  accomplished  within  the  century 
which  we  now  celebrate,  and  in  that  we  recognize  the 
leaven  of  Christianity.  It  required  the  use  of  the  sword 
which  Christ  prophesied  to  his  disciples,  but  it  has  made 
an  highway  for  those  who  bear  the  olive-branch  and 
preach  the  gospel  of  peace. 

The  physical  discoveries  and  the  accomplishments  of 
science  during  the  same  period,  have  multiplied  the 
means  and  increased  the  power  of  truth  a  thousandfold. 
The  fetters  have  been  stricken  from  the  image  of  God, 
and  placed  upon  the  wild  forces  of  nature,  which  are 
subdued  and  made  to  obey  the  voice  of  man.  The  mad 
lightnings  have  been  harnessed  to  a  wire,  and  made  to 
carry  swift  messages  over  continents  and  under  the  waves 
of  the  ocean,  annihilating  both  space  and  time.  The 


136  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

steam-engine,  and  the  iron-clad  fleets  of  the  sea,  are 
made  to  gather  and  distribute  from  zone  to  zone  the 
products  of  all  lands.  The  great  circle  of  the  earth  is 
traversed  in  a  few  days  by  an  unattended  maiden  as  a 
matter  of  pastime,  and  our  daily  newspapers  make  record 
of  current  events  in  all  nations.  The  hemispheres,  the 
islands  of  the  sea  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth, 
are  being  linked  together  for  a  common  purpose.  And 
now  while  we  celebrate,  let  us  indulge  in  the  hope  that 
the  conflict  between  science  and  religion  may  be  recon- 
ciled, and  not  driven  still  further  apart  by  the  false  as- 
sumption that  the  truths  of  one  are  not  the  truths  of  the 
other.  Dr.  Shields  has  happily  expressed  the  hope  ' '  that 
science  will  not  offend  the  oracle  it  would  consult  by  an 
irreverent  spirit,  and  that  religion  will  not  repel  the  in- 
telligence it  would  claim  by  any  irrational  process." 

It  will  be  for  coming  generations  to  continue  the  great 
struggle  for  the  triumph  of  truth.  It  will  be  theirs  to 
reap  from  the  good  seed  which  has  been  sown,  and  they 
will  have  an  abundant  harvest  if  they  cultivate  all  fields 
which  are  watered  by  the  fountains  of  science,  and 
ripened  in  the  sunlight  of  righteousness. 

I  find  my  subject  altogether  too  large  for  my  time,  but 
it  is  a  first-class  beginning  for  the  coming  century.  I 
am  not  able  even  to  touch  the  interesting  theme  which 
covers  the  social  and  political  results  of  Christianity.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  the  subjection  of  the  church  to  state 
government  failed  with  the  experiment  of  Constantine  in 
the  third  century ;  that  the  subjection  of  the  state  to 
church  government  failed  with  the  experiment  of  Gre- 
gory the  Vllth  upon  Henry  the  IVth  in  the  tenth  cen- 


HON.  JAMES  G.  BATTERSON.  137 

tury ;  that  the  union  of  church  and  state  failed  with  the 
Puritan  conflict  and  the  experiment  of  the  English  Par- 
liament in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  its  effort  to  build  up 
the  kingdom  of  God  by  violence  and  bloodshed. 

The  Revolution  of  1688,  which  dethroned  the  Stuarts, 
gave  to  England  constitutional  liberty  and  the  Protest- 
ant religion.  The  act  of  toleration,  which  followed  in 
1689,  gave  protection  to  all  non-conformists  who  could 
subscribe  thirty- five  and  a  half  of  the  thirty- nine  articles. 

Dr.  Schaff  shows  us  that  although  Puritanism  '  «  failed 
as  a  national  movement,  it  was  not  in  vain,  for  it  pro- 
duced statesmen  like  Hampden,  soldiers  like  Cromwell, 
preachers  like  Howe  and  Owen,  dreamers  like  Bunyan, 
hymnists  like  Watts,  commentators  like  Henry,  and 
saints  like  Baxter." 

It  was  reserved,  however,  for  Roger  Williams  to 
emancipate  the  church  and  make  it  a  pure  democracy. 
And  to  him  Gervinus,  the  celebrated  German  Professor, 
pays  the  deserved  compliment  of  being  the  leader  and 
founder  of  this  great  movement.  Gervinus  says :  * '  There 
was  founded  in  Rhode  Island  a  small  new  society  upon 
principles  of  entire  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  uncon- 
trolled power  of  the  majority  in  secular  concerns.  These 
institutions  have  not  only  maintained  themselves,  but 
have  spread  over  the  whole  union.  They  have  super- 
seded the  aristocratic  commencement  of  Carolina  and 
New  York,  the  high-church  party  in  Virginia,  the  theo- 
cracy in  Massachusetts,  and  the  monarchy  throughout 
America.  They  have  given  laws  to  one  quarter  of  the 
globe.  And,  dreaded  for  their  moral  influence,  they 
10 


138         ADDRESS  OF  THE  HON.  J.  G.  BATTER  SON. 

stand  in  the  background  of  every  democratic  struggle  in 
Europe." 

Nothing  is  more  interesting  in  the  eventful  history  of 
the  church  than  the  remarkable  extent  to  which  great 
and  good  men  have  suffered  their  minds  to  become 
warped  by  religious  prejudice. 

Richard  Baxter,  the  pious  author  of  ' '  The  Saints' 
Everlasting  Rest,"  verily  believed  that  converts  admit- 
ted to  the  church  by  immersion  would  not  live  out  half 
their  days.  He,  therefore,  declared  it  to  be  a  "sin, 
which  is  akin  to  murder,  for  it  would  surely  induce  apo- 
plexy, lethargy,  palsy,  phthisis,  debility,  colic,  convul- 
sions, spasms,  fevers,  and  the  whole  catalogue  of  hepatic, 
splenetic,  pulmonic  and  hypochondriac  diseases,  of 
which  there  is  enough  already.  In  short,  he  exclaimed, 
it  is  of  no  use  except  to  dispatch  men  out  of  the  world 
who  are  burdensome  to  society,  and  to  fill  up  the  church- 
yards." If  Baxter  was  right,  the  applicant  for  life  in- 
surance should  be  promptly  rejected,  if  the  medical 
examination  discloses  baptism  by  immersion. 

It  is  certainly  to  be  hoped  that  Baxter's  prognosis  of 
''the  everlasting  rest"  was  based  on  better  evidence  and 
a  wiser  judgment  than  his  fear  of  death  by  coming  into 
bodily  contact  with  cold  water. 

Let  it  be  ours  then  to  celebrate  the  emancipation  of 
the  church  from  the  tyranny  of  the  state,  and  the  eman- 
cipation of  the  state  from  the  tyranny  of  the  church. 

Let  it  be  ours  also  to  celebrate  the  emancipation  of 
Christianity  from  the  tyranny  of  the  saints. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.     JOSEPH     H.    TWICHELL, 

Pastor  of  the  Asylum  Hill  Congregational  Church,  Hartford. 

Great  and  blessed  in  the  church  is  the  office  of  memory. 
This  we  feel  on  all  occasions  like  the  present  when 
what  to  us  is  a  long  past  comes  up  in  review  in  the  light 
of  the  divine  and  spiritual  elements  that  mingle  with 
our  human  life,  and  when  in  consequence  those  affections 
that  are  most  refined,  most  sacred,  most  precious,  most 
enduring,  are  quickened  to  an  unwonted  degree  and  as- 
sert their  incomparable  sway  over  our  spirits.  We  see 
that  the  ministry  of  Christian  memory  supplements  the 
ministry  of  Christian  hope,  and  is  sweetly  blended  with  it. 

Memory,  anyway,  is  full  of  service  to  us.  It  is  one  of 
our  wisest  teachers.  How  does  it  winnow  the  contents 
of  experience,  separating  the  wheat  from  the  chaff! 
When  old  Jacob,  about  to  die  in  Egypt,  turned  his  eyes 
back  over  the  course  of  the  years  behind  him,  two  things, 
you  will  recall,  emerged  upon  the  vision  of  his  retro- 
spect. "  God  Almighty  appeared  unto  me  at  Luz,  in  the 
land  of  Canaan,  and  blessed  me."  That  was  one.  "  And 
(he  continued)  as  for  me,  when  I  came  from  Padan, 
Rachel  died  by  me  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  in  the  way, 
when  yet  there  was  but  a  little  way  to  come  unto  Eph- 


140  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

rath,  and  I  buried  her  there."  .  .  That  was  the  other. 
God's  mercy  and  domestic  love.  They  only  remained. 
All  the  rest  was  unsubstantial,  evanescent.  Memory, 
too,  is  a  chief  defence  of  the  religious  heart  against  its 
fears.  It  is  the  handmaid  of  faith.  It  was  so  in  the 
ancient  days.  "  O,  my  God  (cried  David),  my  soul  is 
cast  down  within  me :  therefore  will  I  remember  thee 
from  the  land  of  Jordan  and  of  the  Hermonites,  from 
the  hill  Mizar."  It  is  so  in  the  gospel  age.  "Having 
eyes  see  ye  not,  and  having  ears  hear  ye  not ;  and  do  ye 
not  remember?"  said  our  Lord  to  the  disciples  while  he 
was  with  them.  And  departing  he  made  his  dying  bequest 
to  them  and  to  the  church  forever,  the  sacrament  of 
memory.  Nor,  though  St.  Paul  had  it  for  his  principle 
in  one  sense  to  forget  the  things  behind,  and  to  reach 
forth  unto  the  things  before,  did  he  ever  cease  to  keep 
in  mind  the  man  he  knew  of  who  was  once  caught  up 
into  the  third  heaven. 

But  there  is  a  gift  in  the  hand  of  memory  that  I  think 
a  festival  in  Zion  like  this  at  which  we  are  gathered 
brings  into  peculiar  prominence,  viz.,  the  gift  of  what 
we  may  call  the  power  of  transfiguration.  What  do  I 
mean  by  that?  This.  That  out  of  the  past,  as  it  is  un- 
covered by  the  reminiscence  that  is  characteristic  of  such 
a  celebration,  out  of  its  history,  its  many  histories,  out 
of  its  reopened  record  of  the  men  and  women,  and  of 
the  events  of  former  generations,  there  arises  a  light  that 
shines  upon  the  present,  and  that  shining  upon  the  pres- 
ent puts  another  and  a  better  construction  upon  it,  clothes 
it  with  another  and  worthier,  yes,  and  juster  aspect  than 
that  in  which  we  are  wont  to  see  it. 


REV.  JOSEPH  H.  TW  1C  HELL.  141 

It  is  easy  for  us  to  discern  the  evil  face  of  our  own 
time.  There  is  no  institution  of  society  whatsoever  that 
viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  a  contemporaneous  ob- 
server, does  not  disclose  features  of  blemish  and  infirm- 
ity whereby  it  is  inevitably  more  or  less  discredited.  Nor 
is  the  Christian  church  any  exception  to  this  rule. 
Rather  it  affords  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  the  most 
conspicuous  illustration  of  it.  All  her  points  lie  open  to 
scrutiny,  and  are  emphasized  by  the  ideals  she  professes 
and  proclaims.  And  none  are  so  sensitive  to  their  ex- 
posure, none  perceive  them  so  clearly  or  feel  their  re- 
proach so  keenly,  as  her  own  children.  She  is  our  dear 
mother,  and  we  love  her  and  believe  in  her,  but  we 
cannot  help  often  being  ashamed  of  her. 

But,  as  I  have  said,  she  is  not  the  only  example  of  the 
same.  One  who  judges  the  republic  of  these  United 
States  mainly  on  the  evidence  of  to-day's  politics,  as  we 
are  always  tempted  to  do,  will  find  himself  thinking,  and 
not  without  some  reason  in  appearances,  that  it  is  a  poor 
affair.  It  is  when  on  Memorial  Day  we  return  from 
decorating  the  graves  of  ten  thousand  heroes  who  gave 
their  lives  that  the  government  ' <  of  the  people  by  the 
people  for  the  people  might  not  perish,"  or  when  we 
pause  to  survey  the  annals  of  the  century  that  has  elapsed 
since  the  inauguration  of  the  nation's  first  president,  or 
when  we  go  with  the  multitude  to  dedicate  the  Pilgrim 
Monument  in  Plymouth ;  it  is,  I  repeat,  when  the 
horizon  of  our  view  is  on  that  wise  extended  so  as  to 
cause  what  is  to  be  contemplated  in  the  light  of  what 
has  been,  that  we  say,  ''Great  is  this  republic  of  ours, 
and  glorious,  the  best  government  under  which  men 


142  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

live,  the  best  the  world  has  known!"  And  that  is  an 
instance  of  what  I  have  termed  the  transfiguring  power 
of  memory.  Who  will  deny  that  it  gives  a  true  sight  ? 

Very  frequently  it  determines  the  eyes  with  which 
we  regard  individuals.  For  a  good  many  years  after  I 
came  to  live  in  this  city,  and  till  a  comparatively  short 
time  ago,  I  was  accustomed,  whenever  I  was  in  New 
York,  to  call  on  a  man  residing  there,  who  was  well 
advanced  in  age,  an  invalid  and  a  paralytic.  Many  were 
the  hours  I  talked  with  him.  Our  conversation  usually 
ran  in  rather  commonplace  channels.  What  he  said 
was  nothing  in  particular.  He  uttered  no  very  great 
thoughts,  or  very  noble  sentiments.  In  fact,  he  was 
considerably  broken  in  body  and  mind.  Yet  again  and 
again,  as  I  sat  and  looked  at  him,  I  would  feel  myself 
thrilling  from  head  to  foot,  as  no  eloquence  could  thrill 
me.  For,  you  must  know,  he  was  my  old  general,  Joseph 
Hooker,  and  I  was  recalling  other  days  when  I  had  seen 
him  a  central  figure  in  grand  historic  scenes.  I  was  re- 
membering mornings  of  battle  and  evenings  of  victory. 
I  was  seeing  him  again  enveloped  in  the  smoke  of 
Williamsburg.  I  was  hearing  again  the  cheers  of  the 
twenty  thousand  soldiers  of  his  division  which  rang  to 
the  skies  when  he  rode  by  that  awful  day  at  Fredericks- 
burg.  It  would  come  back  to  me  exactly  how  he  looked ; 
what  a  picture  of  valor  he  was :  how  magnificent  he  ap- 
peared. These  were  the  things  that  filled  my  thoughts, 
and  they  transfigured  him  to  me.  There  is  this  law  of 
transfiguration.  It  works  by  various  means  and  to 
various  effects.  But  its  agent-in-chief  is  memory,  and 
in  its  happiest  working,  religious  memory,  that  sort  of 


REV.  JOSEPH.  H.   TW  1C  HELL.  143 

memory  with  which  this  Christian  church  is  in  these  pas- 
sing hours  walking  hand  in  hand  and  communing  heart 
to  heart,  whereby  the  church  is  seen  to  have  been,  and 
to  be,  without  controversy,  identified  with  all  that  is 
most  pure  and  noble  in  human  experience,  the  repository 
and  the  representative  of  the  most  beneficent  influences 
that  are  the  leaven  of  good  in  the  world's  life. 

It  is  some  years  ago  now  since  I  was  present  at  an  oc- 
casion like  this  in  the  ancient  church  of  my  native  town. 
But  I  retain  a  vivid  impression  of  how  sweetly  and  with 
what  power  the  resurrection  of  the  past  with  which  it 
was  attended  caused  this  reality  to  appear.  There,  as 
here,  by  one  and  another  speaker,  scenes  and  events 
long  gone  by  were  brought  to  mind ;  rich  treasures  of 
holy  recollection.  They  spoke  of  the  old  pastors  and 
officers  of  the  church,  of  good  men  and  women,  shining 
saints  in  their  time,  but  many  and  many  a  year  sleeping 
in  the  dust,  and  almost  forgotten  on  earth ;  of  glorious 
seasons  of  revival  and  wonderful  works  of  grace  in 
former  generations.  « '  I  remember  the  day,  though  I 
was  but  a  child,"  said  one,  his  voice  tremulous  with  age, 
' «  when  my  father  and  mother  and  near  a  hundred  others 
stood  up  in  this  aisle  and  professed  their  faith  in  Christ ; 
and  how  such  an  one,  who  died  early  in  this  century, 
used  to  talk  of  the  preciousness  of  the  Christian's  trust. 
I  shall  never  forget  it.  And  such  an  one  who  was  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures."  And  so  on.  There  was  a  great  deal 
of  such  remembrance  stirring  them.  As  it  went  on  you 
saw  the  old  people  wiping  their  eyes,  and  the  rugged 
faces  of  the  farmers  relaxing  into  an  unwonted  softness. 
A  sacred  pathos  fell  upon  the  whole  assembly.  The 


144  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

plain ,  old  meeting-house  was  transformed  into  a  beauty 
indescribable.  It  seemed  to  be  apparelled  with  the 
splendors  of  Zion,  to  be  pervaded  with  the  fragrance  of 
those  vials  full  of  odors  sweet  ' '  which  are  the  prayers  of 
saints."  God's  glory  was  there :  heaven  was  near.  You 
felt  that  the  history  there  being  rehearsed  was  great 
history,  of  a  deep,  eternal  meaning ;  that  though  it  con- 
cerned a  lowly  and  obscure  community,  there  had  been 
an  element  of  the  truest  dignity,  yea,  of  the  truest  sub- 
limity in  it,  which  was,  moreover,  a  present  and  an 
abiding  element.  And  this  transfiguration  was  wrought 
by  the  fact  that  the  life  of  that  community  was  then  dis- 
cerned and  interpreted  in  the  light  of  spiritual  relations ; 
in  the  light  of  its  highest  significance.  So  it  is  always. 
So  it  is  here.  To  this  honored  and  beloved  church  it  is 
now  given  to  take  knowledge  of  herself,  not  of  what  she 
has  been  alone,  but  of  what  she  is  as  well,  in  the  light 
reflected  upon  to-day  from  the  reviewed  memories  of  an 
hundred  years.  Upon  those  memories  we,  her  neighbors 
in  the  Lord,  congratulate  her,  that  they  are  of  so  high 
and  inspiring  an  import,  that  she  has  such  a  record  of 
the  grace  of  God  by  which  to  call  them  up,  and  that  in 
calling  them  up  she  is  compassed  about  by  so  great  a 
cloud  of  heavenly  witnesses. 

In  some  of  them  many  of  other  households  of  faith 
are  fond  partakers  with  you.  For  myself,  I  never  shall 
forget  the  day  when  in  this  place  I  heard  his  sorrowing, 
yet  rejoicing,  friend  and  brother,  Dr.  Rollin  H.  Neale, 
pour  out  above  the  body  of  your  dear  Dr.  Turnbull,  'ere  it 
was  borne  to  the  burial,  and  he  was  dear  to  us  all,  such  a 
passionate  strain  of  love  and  grief  and  hope  commingled 


REV.  JOSEPH  H.  TW  1C  HELL.  145 

as  I  had  never  listened  to  before.  And  the  memory  the 
sweetness  of  which  was  thus  so  exquisitely  testified  was, 
is,  but  one  of  the  multitude  which  are  your  wealthy 
heritage  and  possession.  Hither,  from  far  and  near  like 
God's  angels  they  are  now  flocking  to  you,  to  breathe 
benediction  upon  you  and  to  flood  your  hearts  with 
humblest,  tenderest  gratitude. 

The  Lord  grant  that,  as  the  fruit  of  their  holy  visita- 
tion, you  may  go  on  in  your  way  and  work  as  a  church 
of  Christ  in  a  newness  of  refreshment  and  of  strength 
for  a  long  time  to  come. 


ORIGINAL    HYMN. 

BY  THE  REV.  H.  M.  KING,  D.  D. 

Of  Albany,  N.  Y. 

O  thou,  with  whom  a  thousand  years 
Are  but  as  yesterday  when  past, 

Our  fathers'  God  'mid  hopes  and  fears, 
Their  children's  God  while  life  shall  last ; 

We  lift  to  thee  our  heartfelt  praise, 

Assembled  in  thy  courts  to-day, 
Recall  the  memories  of  thy  grace, 

The  wonders  of  thy  perfect  way. 

Beneath  the  shade  of  spreading  boughs, 
Made  strong  and  fruitful  by  thy  love, 

We  joyful  meet,  and  pay  our  vows 
To  thee,  who  hearest  from  above. 

We  praise  thee  for  thy  fostering  care, 
Which  through  a  century  of  years 

Has  given  success  to  word  and  prayer, 
And  owned  and  blessed  thy  servants'  tears. 

Life,  growth  and  fruitage  are  bestowed 
By  thy  divine  and  sovereign  will ; 

The  past  owns  thee  its  gracious  God, 
And  hope  rests  sweetly  on  thee  still. 


J.   S.  JAMES. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

REV.  J.  S.    JAMES, 

Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Hartford. 

THE  FUTURE'S  DEBT  TO  THE  PAST. 

' '  Fifty  years  of  service  in  holy  things,  fifty  years  of 
labor  for  the  kingdom  of  God  are  complete  to-day.  We 
need  not  wait  for  eternity  to  show  that  the  promise  to 
Abraham  and  Abraham's  children,  '  Thou  shalt  be  a 
blessing,'  has  been  fulfilled  in  you  also.  Fifty  years 
long  you  have  been  a  blessing  to  the  church  of  God  on 
earth ;  and  with  you,  many  look  back  over  this  period 
with  prayerful  adoration." 

With  words  like  these  Dr.  Herman  Cremer  dedicates 
his  "Lexicon  of  New  Testament  Greek,"  to  his  beloved 
instructor,  Dr.  Tholuck,  of  Halle,  on  the  celebration  of 
his  semi-centennial  of  academic  life. 

They  seem  fit  words  with  which  to  introduce  the 
theme  of  my  own  thoughts  to-day.  We  have  been 
looking  backward  to  a  point  of  time  almost  exactly  nine 
years  previous  to  the  birthday  of  Dr.  Tholuck,  as  we 
have  surveyed  the  twice  fifty  years  of  service  in  holy 
things  and  labor  for  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  com- 
plete to-day  amid  so  many  happy  congratulations.  It 
has  been  a  century  not  without  its  wanderings  in  the 


148  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

wilderness,  its  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire  and  angels'  food, 
nor  yet  without  its  conquests  of  Canaan  and  visions  of 
Pisgah.  And  the  eye  of  our  venerable  church  is  yet 
undimtned  and  its  natural  force  unabated. 

The  words  I  have  quoted  are  words  of  loyalty  no  less 
than  love.  Loyalty  recognizes  obligation.  We  who  stand 
in  this  glad  hour  where  two  centuries  touch,  looking 
into  the  future  big  with  opportunity,  lovingly,  loyally 
recognize  our  obligation  to  an  honored  past. 

Above  Dr.  Turnbull's  grave  in  Spring  Grove,  a  noble 
shaft  of  granite  stands,  erected  to  his  memory  by  those 
who  sat  under  his  Hartford  ministry.  The  mound  is 
green  with  well  trimmed  sod.  Through  the  thirteen 
years'  repose  of  the  form  he  used  to  wear,  flowers  have 
bloomed  around  this  grave.  They  were  planted  and 
have  been  tended  by  one,  who  is  now  a  mother  in  Israel, 
(Mrs.  Silas  Chapman,  Sr.),  baptized  into  the  fellowship 
of  this  church  seven  years  before  Dr.  Turnbull  began 
his  long  and  significant  service  with  us.  The  stone  and 
sod  and  flowers  are  tokens  of  abiding  love  and  loyalty 
to  him,  firm  as  the  granite  shaft,  sweet  as  the  fragrance 
ascending  from  the  opening  flowers.  They  are  symbols 
also  of  a  still  broader  loyalty  which  is  glad  to  acknowledge 
our  debt  to  the  whole  century  of  Christ-like  ministrations. 

First.  Our  fathers  of  this  past  have  handed  down  to 
us  of  the  opening  future,  in  this  church  life  of  a  hundred 
years,  a  well  marked  organic  character,  a  significant 
church  personality.  The  future  owes  to  the  past  that 
we  preserve  intact  each  divine  element  of  that  character, 
ours  by  the  mysterious  law  of  church  heredity. 

Few  questions  in   the  ordinary   problems  of   life  are 


RE V.  J.  S.  JAMES.  149 

weightier  to  the  average  man  than  the  question,  Into 
what  family  was  he  born  ?  His  family  starts  him  in  the 
world  with  a  helpful  momentum  or  a  millstone  about  his 
neck.  He  may  relieve  himself  of  the  dead  weight  or 
despise  the  birth-right  of  his  opportunity,  just  as  he 
chooses.  They  are  there  to  face  him,  the  one  or  the 
other.  The  sins  of  his  fathers  will  visit  him  or  the 
shades  of  his  ancestors  inspire  him.  Hereditary  char- 
acter is  not  peculiar  to  men.  Institutions  have  it. 
States  have  it  and  transmit  it.  Churches  are  as  marked 
as  men.  Next  to  coming  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
the  most  important  consideration  is  to  be  born  into  the 
best  possible  church  family.  The  idiosyncracies  of  a 
church  may  fasten  themselves  on  a  young  Christian,  like 
the  awkward  gait  of  his  father.  Happy  are  they  who 
are  welcomed  into  fellowship  with  a  church  whose  char- 
acteristics are  not  idiosyncracies  but  features  of  the  face 
of  our  divine  Lord. 

Looking  through  the  hundred  years,  viewing  the 
church  of  the  century  as  one,  my  glance  has  had  to  be 
hasty.  Only  such  outline  features  could  catch  my  eye  as 
you  may  see  in  the  first  interview  with  one  you  have 
been  taught  to  revere  before  you  met  him.  Any  broad 
analysis  would  be  impossible.  Some  elements  have 
seemed  to  stand  out.  These  I  will  indicate. 

I  see  an  erect  manly  bearing,  broad  shoulders, 
strong  arms  and  sturdy  strides  in  untried  paths.  Our 
fathers  were  pioneers.  They  must  have  been  or  they 
would  not  have  proposed  the  organization  of  this  church. 
Pioneers  are  sturdy  men,  brave  men,  men  of  enterprize. 
Travelers,  they  take  their  journey  through  roads  not 


150  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

always  well  made,  well  worn,  with  sign  boards  tacked 
up  here  and  there  at  cross  paths.  The  pioneer  carries  a 
compass  and  a  map  and  a  pick  and  an  axe.  He  makes 
his  road.  Like  John  he  goes  out  into  the  wilderness  to 
prepare  a  highway  for  his  God.  He  levels  the  moun- 
tains, exalts  the  valleys,  makes  rough  places  smooth. 
And  the  glory  of  the  Lord  is  revealed  to  him.  He  does 
not  so  much  consult  precedents  as  make  them.  His 
chart  is  the  word,  his  compass  the  holy  instincts  born  of 
an  indwelling  divine  Spirit.  He  has  learned  to  take  bear- 
ings from  heavenly  observations.  The  pioneer  spirit  is 
Christ-like.  It  is  eternally  Christ-like.  It  belongs  to 
early  times.  It  belongs  to  all  times.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
all  truly  individual  life.  Each  new  life  must  find  some 
new  path  or  it  is  not  a  new  life. 

There  were  no  precedents  which  bade  dear  old  Grand- 
father Bolles  walk  eighteen  miles  before  breakfast  on 
Sunday  morning  to  attend  church.  But  he  walked  from 
Hartford  to  Suffield  and  made  precedents.  The  old  law 
of  the  land  required  him  to  go  to  church  and  his  spiritual 
instinct  told  him  where  to  go. 

The  formation  of  a  Baptist  church  in  intolerant  times 
was  a  brave  act,  braver  than  it  seems  now.  It  was  an 
opposition  meeting  of  course  in  the  eyes  of  our  fathers 
of  the  established  church.  The  wonder  is  not  that  some 
one  proposed  to  good  Dr.  Strong,  to  have  the  thing 
stopped  but  that  the  doctor  did  not  try  to  stop  it. 

And  because  our  fathers  were  pioneers  they  were 
missionaries.  Themselves  missionaries,  they  had  the 
missionary  spirit.  They  read  brotherhood  all  about 
them,  in  the  state,  throughout  the  nation  as  rapidly  as 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  151 

they  could.  They  spelled  out  brotherhood  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  by  the  light  of  the  great  com- 
mission. < '  Of  one  blood,"  said  Luther  Rice,  August  3 1 , 
1814,  when  Daniel  Wildman  sat  in  the  chair  and  Elisha 
Cushman  and  Gurdon  Robins,  then  28  years  old,  were 
secretaries  of  the  meeting  called  from  all  over  the  state 
to  organize  the  second  foreign  missionary  society  in  our 
denomination  in  America.  Asa  Tallmadge  was  there, 
Jonathan  Goodwin  was  there.  Our  thirteen  year  old 
brother  Dimock  was  there.  "Of  one  blood,"  said  this 
man  from  the  far  east.  "Amen,"  responded  our  fathers, 
"Of  one  blood  they  are."  And  Hartford  seconded  Bos- 
ton's motion  that  the  great  commission  included  India. 
Miss  Grew,  the  daughter  of  our  second  pastor,  went  forth 
herself,  as  the  wife  of  Dr.  Jones  to  share  with  him  the 
privilege  of  teaching  salvation  in  Burma.  Later  on 
Samuel  M.  Whiting  and  wife  went  from  us  to  Assam. 
And  still  later  James  Hope  Arthur  laid  down  his  life  in 
like  service  in  Japan.  They  did  not  stop  to  discuss 
whether  the  heathen  could  or  could  not  be  saved.  But 
they  went  out  to  help  save  them.  It  was  meet  that  our 
own  Dr.  Lucius  Bolles  should  be  the  first  executive 
officer  of  the  new  Missionary  Union.  It  is  right  that 
our  own  Dr.  Murdoch  should  sit  in  his  chair  to-day. 
For  he  is  ours  too  and  married  our  oldest  daughter. 

Nor  did  this  missionary  spirit  impoverish  us.  We  had 
love  still  left  for  home,  love  for  Hartford  and  our  chil- 
dren's children  have  been  gathered  around  the  mother's 
board  to-day ;  love  for  the  state ;  the  convention  was 
brought  into  being  here.  The  missions  of  the  state  were 
under  the  immediate  oversight  first  of  Brother  Howard, 


152  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

of  Dr.  Sage,  of  Brother  Bronson.  Dr.  Turnbull  spent 
the  closing  five  years  of  his  life  in  care  of  the  missionary 
churches  of  the  state  and  died  in  that  service. 

And  in  what  part  of  America  may  you  not  find  our 
boys  and  our  girls  ?  Yesterday  and  to-day  hearts  quivered 
with  affectionate  remembrance  of  the  home  church 
throughout  the  land.  I  cannot  name  them  again  for 
you  know  them  all,  those  who  have  manned  Christ's 
pulpits  in  America  preaching  the  gospel  they  learned  to 
love  in  the  pews  of  this  church.  Said  a  prominent  gentle- 
man in  Philadelphia  to  me,  '  *  Some  of  the  laymen  in 
your  church  have  helped  to  make  our  denomination  what 
it  is  to-day.  "  We  owe  it  to  tread  in  the  paths  of  our 
fathers  and  catch  their  mantles  as  they  ascend  and  the 
son's  portion  of  their  spirit. 

Because  they  were  pioneers,  our  fathers  wanted  their 
sons  to  be  better  educated  than  they  were  themselves. 
And  where  schools  were  wanting  they  said,  "Let  us 
arise  and  build."  And  where  schools  were  at  hand  they 
said,  "  Let  us  use  them  and  make  them  better."  Our 
fathers  did  not  despise  the  gift  of  God  in  the  mind  any 
more  than  the  soul.  And  because  he  made  it  and  gave 
it  they  said,  "  Out  of  this  talent  make  one  talent  more." 
Mr.  Nelson  our  first  pastor  was  a  graduate  of  Brown 
University,  and  became  a  member  of  its  corporation.  So 
did  Dr.  Davis  after  him.  And  Brother  Howard  is  there 
now.*  Dr.  Davis  was  the  Daniel  O'Connell  who  waged 
the  agitation  which  produced  our  institution  at  Suffield. 
Brother  Dimock  was  the  provisional  treasurer  who  trans- 

*  Since  the  above  was  spoken,  the  Hon.  James  G.  Batterson,  of  this 
church,  has  been  added  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Brown  University. 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  153 

ferred  the  property  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  when  the 
organization  was  perfected.  Suffield  was  our  mother. 
What  were  we  doing  but  bringing  back  our  children  to 
have  the  grandmother  train  them  at  the  old  family 
hearth-stone  ?  We  said,  < «  You  take  them  and  we  will  help 
make  the  chimney  corner  larger."  Suffield  is  near  to  us 
now,  not  even  eighteen  miles  away  in  our  hearts.  We 
have  lost  nothing  by  Suffield.  She  has  given  us  back 
brighter  boys  and  girls.  She  has  sent  out  to  us  Dr. 
Johnson  and  Professor  Smith.  And  many  of  those  who 
were  taught  first  steps  in  learning  there,  seem  to  be  our 
boys  as  well  as  hers.  It  will  be  strange  if  Principal 
Scott  shall  not  soon  be  thinking  that  the  balance  of  credit 
has  got  over  to  his  side  and  that  it  is  time  for  him  to  be 
passing  around  the  hat  again  for  an  additional  ten  thous- 
and or  so  on  the  endowment.  And  it  will  be  stranger  if 
Hartford  allows  him  to  go  away  empty,  provided  he  ask 
in  a  proper  manner. 

From  our  church  has  come  an  enrichment  to  the  boards 
of  instruction  of  the  best  colleges  of  the  land.  Our  fifth 
pastor  Dr.  Sears  taught  at  Madison  and  at  Newton  and 
at  Brown.  He  edited  the  Christian  Review  and  in  1834 
he  baptized  in  the  river  Elbe  that  great  Baptist  apostle 
in  Germany,  the  revered  devoted  J.  G.  Oncken.  We 
gave  Henry  E.  Robins,  to  Colby  and  to  Rochester; 
James  R.  Boise  to  Michigan  University  and  to  Morgan 
Park  Theological  Seminary.  We  borrowed  Dr.  Sage  for 
a  precious  thirteen  years  and  then  Morgan  Park  claimed 
him.  Edwin  H.  Bronson,  the  lamented  founder  of  the 
' '  King's  Household  of  Bible  Readers, ' '  was  one  of  our  boys. 
That  King's  Household  of  his  has  brought  open  eyes  to 
ii 


154  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

the  open  Bible.  Through  the  eye,  light  came  to  the 
heart  and  the  truth  as  it  is  in  the  word  was  made  part  of 
the  heart.  And  this  almost  without  limits  of  latitude  or 
longitude  in  our  broad  land.  Mr.  Bronson  gave  to  this 
work  a  singular  power  of  organization  and  for  it  he  laid 
down  his  fresh  young  life.  Dr.  Lucius  E.  Smith  when 
on  the  staff  of  The  Courant  was  a  member  of  our  church 
and  school.  At  Bucknell  he  was  my  own  professor  of 
rhetoric.  On  The  Examiner  and  now  for  years  on  The 
Watchman,  he  has  been  making  the  electric  thrill  of  his 
facile  pen  felt  without  bluster,  almost  unseen  but  con- 
stantly, positively  part  of  the  heart-beat  of  the  educational 
life  of  our  churches.  The  Christian  Secretary  was  really 
a  child  of  our  church.  And  it  is  an  agent  of  education 
and  evangelization  wherever  it  goes,  always  reverent, 
always  scholarly,  and  never  speaking  to  you  until  you 
ask  it  to.  Last  but  not  least  you  heard  yesterday  how 
that  Hartford's  Patriarch  and  Baptist  Archbishop  Dr. 
George  M.  Stone  learned  how  to  study  Greek  verbs 
aright  in  Bro.  Willis  S.  Bronson's  Bible  class  in  our 
Sunday-school. 

I  mention  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  church  as 
it  has  been,  of  the  church  as  it  is,  which  we  do  not 
always  associate  with  pioneer  life.  I  think  I  have  been 
able  to  observe  traces  of  it  away  back  at  the  beginning 
of  the  hundred  years.  I  have  found  traces  of  nothing 
contrary  to  it  in  the  four  months  of  my  personal  contact 
with  these  dear  people  with  whom  I  have  already  begun 
to  fall  in  love.  There  seems  to  have  been  handed  down 
and  tenderly  preserved  to  the  present  hour,  a  pervading 
sense  of  the  sacredness  of  the  church  as  the  body  of 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  155 

Christ  along  with  a  courteous  self-forgetful  self-control 
on  the  part  of  the  individual  which  has  spared  the  first 
century  of  our  history  any  blotted,  tattered  pages  of  the 
story  of  schism.  The  church  was  a  holy  thing.  And  it 
has  been  in  accord  with  the  consensus  of  the  four  or  five 
thousand  whose  membership  has  through  this  century 
made  up  its  constituency,  that  no  man  should  defile  the 
ark  of  God  with  the  unhallowed  touch  of  his  own  petty 
or  personal  grievance.  Not  that  our  fathers  have  felt 
tramelled  in  personal  independent  thinking.  Not  that 
they  have  ever  suffered  a  censorship  over  the  fullest 
enjoyment  of  free  speech.  But  they  have  thought 
reverently.  They  have  thought  with  devotion  to  God's 
church  and  with  self-control.  And  out  of  the  fulness  of 
the  heart's  thinking  their  mouths  have  spoken.  It  has 
been  good  form,  good  sense  and  essential  by  common 
consent,  to  stand  by  the  church  because  it  was  Christ's. 
And  in  like  manner  it  has  been  and  is  the  sentiment 
which  long  custom  has  made  obligatory  upon  each,  as  he 
answers  to  his  own  conscience,  that  he  hold  up  the  hands 
of  whoever  may  happen  to  be  the  pastor  of  God's  flock. 
If  ever  a  stray  sheep  became  fevered  and  discontented 
or  unhappy  and  wandered  outside  these  walls  of  the  fold 
which  were  not  walls  of  a  prison  house  but  walls  of 
defence  and  protection,  the  poor  sheep  was  allowed  to 
wander  unhindered  unrebuked  long  enough  to  be  tired 
of  his  own  folly.  Then  some  one  of  the  flock  would  go 
out  after  him  and  lovingly  bring  him  back.  I  have  not 
been  told  that  any  shepherd  was  ever  made  arrogant  by 
this  attitude  of  the  church  toward  him  or  that  he  ever 
appropriated  the  loyalty  to  the  office  he  held  as  his  per- 


156  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

sonal  property.  But  that  the  tendency  was  to  make  him 
sensible  of  a  profound  trust  thus  laid  upon  him  a  trust 
he  would  gladly  share  with  every  other  brother  pastor  of 
every  other  sister  church. 

I  gratefully  mark  another  feature  in  this  personal 
church  life.  It  seems  to  be  in  its  very  blood.  If  there 
were  a  microscope  that  could  examine  this  blood  I  fancy 
the  corpuscles  would  reveal  the  mark  in  the  outline  and 
size  of  each  disk.  This  church  is  a  religious  church.  It 
lives  a  spiritual  life  in  Christ.  It  touches  the  world  not 
to  be  made  worldly  but  to  invite  the  world  about  us  to  a 
like  precious  faith.  It  touches  the  life  that  now  is  in 
order  to  use  it  as  a  handmaid  of  the  life  which  is  to 
come.  Our  fathers  were  strangers  and  pilgrims  here,  as 
their  children  are,  citizens  of  another  country  and  the 
church,  the  vestibule  on  earth  to  the  glorious  temple  in 
heaven.  It  would  be  insufficient  to  say  that  our  fathers 
emphasized  religion.  Religion  was  the  living  principle 
of  their  whole  being.  They  have  received  forgiveness 
of  sins  through  Christ  along  with  a  life  in  him  that  is 
real,  a  life  laid  hold  of  by  the  powers  of  the  world  to 
come.  It  would  be  untrue  to  say  that  they  despised  doc- 
trine. They  believed  in  theology  in  so  far  as  religion 
could  use  theology.  They  tested  their  theology  by  its 
relation  to  religion.  Perhaps  if  they  ever  came  to  a  dis- 
agreement, it  was  with  a  pastor  whose  theology  forbade 
his  praying  in  the  presence  of  an  unconverted  person. 
This  did  not  seem  to  be  a  religious  theology  in  the  eyes 
of  our  spiritual  minded  fathers.  They  would  not  suffer 
doctrine  to  supplant  life.  Doctrine  was  for  life  not  life 
for  doctrine.  This  church  has  seemed  never  to  lose  the 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  157 

ring  of  those  great  words  of  the  Rev.  John  Hastings  of 
Suffield  when  our  John  Bolles  was  under  examination 
for  membership  with  the  mother  church.  The  account 
which  Grandfather  Bolles  could  give  of  the  philosophy 
of  the  plan  of  salvation  in  general  or  its  development 
according  to  time  in  his  own  case  in  particular  was  not 
over  satisfactory  to  the  good  men  who  were  attempting 
to  dissect  his  relation  of  experience.  And  Mr.  Hastings 
cleared  away  the  mist  by  saying,  "It  is  evident  that 
Brother  Bolles  is  in  the  way  and  this  is  more  important 
than  the  question  when  or  by  what  means  he  got  into 
it."  "  More  important,"  these  words  are  precious  words. 
This  church  has  always  held  that  life  was  more  impor- 
tant than  a  birth  certificate. 

In  these  features  of  transmitted  church  personality 
have  any  been  enumerated  which  are  not  clearly  Christ- 
like  ?  Has  undue  credit  been  given  to  the  fathers  past 
or  present?  It  is  our  great  debt  to  preserve  intact  each 
divine  feature  of  this  wondrous  heritage,  this  living 
legacy.  It  would  be  false  to  the  fathers  as  well  as  false 
to  our  children  if  we  do  not  hand  it  down  as  glorious  as 
we  have  received  it. 

Second.  Our  fathers'  conquests  were  hindered  by  the 
limitations  of  their  times.  We  owe  it  to  them  that  our 
own  labors  be  even  with  the  new  possibilities  of  our  times. 
Sometimes  they  could  only  begin  the  work  which  has 
been  given  to  us  to  complete.  They  ploughed  in  some 
fields  where  we  must  sow.  They  planted  some  which 
we  may  reap.  They  began  some  towers  for  us  to  finish. 
They  built  not  Babels;  but  laid  the  corner  stone  of 
temples  founded  on  a  rock  and  that  look  toward  the 


158  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

heavens.  The  broods  they  tended  were  not  always  of 
the  earth,  earthy,  with  wings  that  cannot  soar;  but  they 
were  eagles  of  the  air.  It  may  be  that  some  of  them 
have  been  handed  over  to  our  care  that  we  may  teach 
them  to  lift  their  wings  and  train  them  how  to  rise. 

Our  fathers  occupied  the  south  land  of  our  city.  They 
occupied  the  west.  Children's  children  hold  the  field 
still  farther  south.  They  reached  out  toward  the  north. 
It  took  more  than  one  expedition  to  find  the  north  pole. 
It  took  more  than  one  expedition  to  find  the  lost  search- 
ers for  the  north  pole.  We  have  sent  out  explorers. 
They  have  gone  as  far  as  Suffield  Street.  They  have 
established  a  little  cache  there  for  stores.  They  have 
a  ship  and  a  crew.  They  cry  to  us  to  occupy  the  land 
and  possess  it.  It  is  not  cold  like  the  ice  fields  of  the 
Arctic.  It  is  not  barren,  but  flows  with  milk  and  honey, 
a  goodly  land.  And  from  the  sermon  preached  by  Dr. 
Turnbull  when  this  house  was  dedicated  there  echoes 
down  these  thirty- four  years  the  cry  of  old,  "  Go  in  and 
possess  the  land." 

Going  away  back,  we  find  that  our  fathers  met  the 
limitations  of  a  young  untried  civilization.  It  seems 
strange  that  our  grandmothers  ever  wore  short  frocks  and 
tended  dolls,  or  that  our  grandfathers  coasted  down  New 
England  hills,  and  clambered  up  again  with  sleds  unhelped 
by  walking  sticks.  It  seems  strange  that  this  glory  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  this  free  government  with  liberty 
enlightening  the  world,  could  ever  have  been  a  child. 
But  when  this  church  was  constituted,  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  not  fourteen  years  old,  and  George 
Washington  had  been  president  less  than  eleven 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  159 

months.  Josiah  Strong  had  not  written  « '  Our  Country," 
for  no  Josiah  Strong  could  have  found  our  country,  then 
in  an  undeveloped  continent,  with  but  a  single  human 
being  to  each  square  mile.  Liberty  was  a  full  grown 
word,  a  house  finished  and  ready  for  an  occupant.  But 
the  idea  of  liberty  was  so  small,  so  weak,  so  puny,  that 
we  wonder  almost  how  our  fathers  fought  for  it.  They 
lived  amid  the  barbarisms  of  human  slavery,  the  auction 
block  and  the  whipping  post.  There  were  Wendell 
Phillipses  and  William  Lloyd  Garrisons  and  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowes  in  those  days.  But  they  heard  no  cry 
of  wrong.  Uncle  Tom's  back  smarted  and  bled  then. 
It  was  only  Lagree  who  heard  his  cry  and  death 
groan.  The  hearts  that  ached  with  slavery's  bitter  cruel- 
ties then  were  most  of  them  black  men's  hearts. 

Our  civilization  has  grown  old  enough  to  study  pro- 
blems now.  Our  fathers  had  but  dreamed  of  them.  In- 
temperance, so  far  from  being  a  problem  of  the  times, 
hardly  suggested  an  exclamation  point.  The  drink  habit 
was  so  universal  and  so  respectable  that  nobody  asked 
for  Dr.  Strong's  resignation  because  he  eked  out  his 
salary  with  dividends  from  a  distillery. 

Immigration  had  no  dangers  then.  There  were  no 
steamboats  on  the  one  side  of  us  to  tap  the  sewers  of 
European  crime,  or  railroads  that  touched  the  western 
prairies  on  the  other  side  of  us.  Three  days  after  this 
church  was  constituted  the  first  naturalization  law  was 
passed  by  the  Federal  Congress.  There  were  just  two 
conditions  in  its  provisions.  The  one  sprang  from  the 
cruelty  of  the  times,  the  other  from  the  ignorance.  The 
alien  who  would  be  adopted,  must  be  first  white,  and 


160  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

second,  he  must  have  resided  a  bare  two  years  in  the 
country. 

Popery  was  a  well  fed,  satisfied  institution,  with  tem- 
poral power  that  did  not  reach  this  far.  It  was  still  fal- 
lible in  things  spiritual,  and  not  yet  a  menace  to  things 
political  hereabouts. 

The  perils  of  cities  were  largely  the  perils  of  villages 
with  ungraded  streets,  unlighted  by  night,  and  no  drain- 
age. Burglary  was  so  rare  that  the  burglar  was  uni- 
formly hung.  And  up  to  that  time  the  best  thief-proof 
safe  of  which  I  have  found  a  record  was  one  that  grew 
in  our  city,  and  stood  where  it  grew  until  thirty-four 
years  ago  the  wind  uprooted  it,  on  Charter  Oak  Place. 

Hartford's  sweet  singer,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  was  not  born 
until  a  year  after  our  organization.  And  the  literary 
men  had  to  get  along  without  Webster's  Unabridged. 
For  the  author  was  a  young  man  of  thirty-two,  interest- 
ing himself  at  the  time  with  the  problems  of  political 
life  as  a  member  of  the  town  council  of  Hartford. 

We  are  assuming  nothing  but  the  responsibilities  that 
are  about  us,  to  glance  at  the  fuller  light  in  which  some 
truths  of  the  divine  revelation,  written  or  unwritten, 
stand  forth  to  us. 

Take,  for  example,  the  relation  of  things  spiritual  to 
things  material. 

It  has  been  taught  by  them  of  old  time  that  the  body 
is  "the  tomb  of  the  soul."  Building  on  a  gross  and 
literal  interpretation  of  the  scripture  statement,  "That 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,"  it  was  supposed  that 
things  material  contained  the  essence  of  evil  or,  of  sin. 
As  to  wealth  it  was  said,  ' <  The  love  of  money  is  the 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  161 

root  of  all  evil."  It  was  dangerous  to  possess  wealth. 
But  if  possessed,  religion  was  still  a  thing  of  the  heart. 
We  could  give  God  our  hearts,  but  that  need  not  mean 
our  pocket-books.  Things  spiritual  were  apart  from 
things  material.  Business  was  one  thing,  religion 
another.  There  was  no  need  of  business  principles  in 
religion,  or  of  religious  principles  in  business.  The 
possibilities  of  wealth  consecrated  to  God  were  small, 
for  wealth  was  small.  With  the  large  accummulations 
of  later  times,  we  have  been  forced  to  discuss  the  prob- 
lems suggested  by  a  religious  point  of  view.  We  are 
discussing  them  now.  Some  new  light  has  come  to  us, 
or  some  old  light  come  back  to  us.  We  remember  that 
our  Lord  while  on  earth  was  clothed  with  a  material 
body,  and  like  him  we  are  tabernacled  in  the  flesh. 
Christ  healed  men's  bodies  as  well  as  their  souls.  On  the 
resurrection  morning  he  will  say  to  those  souls,  Be 
clothed,  and  to  these  bodies,  Arise.  We  have  begun  to 
learn  that  if  the  Spirit  of  God  is  to  use  us  at  all,  he 
must  use  us  body  and  soul ;  and  that  we  cannot  be 
blessed  by  him  unless  our  wealth  is  blessed  of  him.  We 
do  not  so  often  misquote  the  scripture  referred  to  above, 
but  read  it  aright,  « « The  love  of  money  is  a  root  of  all 
kinds  of  evil."  If  it  becomes  an  idolatry,  it  opens  the 
evils  of  any  other  idolatry. 

Take,  for  another  example,  the  relation  of  the 
young  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  When  they  brought 
young  children  to  our  Lord,  and  he,  taking  them  in 
his  arms,  blessed  them,  we  read  that  the  disciples  re- 
buked those  who  brought  them.  Have  our  good  Bap- 
tist ancestors  sometimes  in  recalling  this  incident, 


162  ADDRESS  OF  THE 

remembered  only  the  rebukes  of  the  twelve  ?  This  were 
an  error  as  grievous  as  to  teach  that  the  only  way  a 
child  may  come  to  Christ  is  by  the  faith  of  him  who 
stands  as  its  godfather.  Does  the  child  understand  all 
he  is  doing  in  confessing  Christ?  Can  he  know  the 
philosophy  of  the  plan  of  salvation?  We  have  come  to 
see  that  the  child  knows  more  and  sees  more  if  he  has 
been  properly  taught  than  an  untaught  man.  But  we 
have  been  gradually  recognizing  in  a  new  way  that  the 
little  ones  who  have  been  brought  to  a  living,  loving, 
personal  Savior,  may  sit  down  to  eat  of  things  spiritual 
at  the  Father's  table  before  they  had  comprehended  the 
laws  of  spiritual  digestion.  We  have  come  to  see  some- 
thing of  the  sweet  economy  for  the  kingdom  and  for  the 
child,  in  saving  both  the  lost  years  of  wandering  without 
a  heavenly  guide,  and  in  laying  hold  of  the  early  training 
years  not  only  for  the  schools  where  the  rudiments  of  this 
world's  knowledge  may  be  taught,  but  where  the  child 
may  be  trained  when  it  is  easiest  to  train  for  the  king- 
dom. And  we  have  come  to  a  sounder  theology  and  a 
wiser  philosophy  as  well. 

Take  also,  as  an  example,  the  relation  of  that  sublime 
truth,  the  sovereignty  of  God  to  human  responsibility. 

There  is  a  Calvinism  which  lays  on  the  Heavenly 
Father  a  responsibility  he  has  not  consented  to  as- 
sume, and  is  itself  satisfied  with  speculating  upon  the 
contents  of  the  unopened  books  of  his  eternal  decrees. 

It  is  no  strange  thing  that  men  have  reflected  their 
own  hardened  hearts  into  the  guesses  they  have  been  so 
bold  in  making  as  to  God's  heart.  This  may  be  called 
the  unrevealed  doctrine  of  divine  sovereignty.  And 


REV.  J.  S.  JAMES.  163 

there  is  a  revealed  side  of  this  eternal  truth.  The  dis- 
ciple, sitting  in  its  light,  reads  that  he  who  called  him  to 
his  vineyard  and  to  service  is  his  divine  and  sovereign 
Lord.  Such  a  call  from  such  a  Lord  he  dare  not  ignore. 
There  is  a  Calvinism  which  shifts  all  responsibility  on 
God.  This  ignorantly  brings  God  down  from  his  throne, 
and  leads  those  who  hold  to  it  to  idleness.  There  is  a 
Calvinism  which  accepts  the  responsibility  this  sovereign 
God  lays  upon  us,  and  leads  to  a  service  that  makes  us 
heirs  with  Christ  and  fellow- workers  with  him.  We  live 
in  times  which  seem  to  reveal  to  men  a  responsibility 
resting  on  God's  eternal  sovereign  right  to  reign. 

Our  centennial  was  ushered  in  yesterday  morning  by 
rain  drops  which  fell  from  the  clouds  and  the  darkness. 
There  was  no  occasion  for  complaint,  for  the  showers 
that  water  the  earth  were  from  above,  and  fell  in  mercy. 
As  the  day  drew  on,  the  clouds  floated  away  to  the  south- 
east. The  sunlight  shone  out.  The  day  closed,  and 
with  it  the  old  century,  just  as  this  day  and  the  new  cen- 
tury opened  in  the  glory  of  the  bright  sunshine.  It  is 
the  mission  of  the  sunshine  to  warm  the  earth  the  showers 
have  moistened,  to  join  its  light  and  heat  to  the  service 
of  the  rain,  in  making  the  new  bud  to  swell  into  larger 
life.  It  is  the  business  of  the  sunshine  and  light  of  the 
new  century  to  co-operate  with  dews  of  heavenly  blessing 
of  the  old  century,  and  to  bring  larger  life  from  both. 
The  rain  without  the  sunshine  brings  a  death-dealing 
flood.  The  sun  without  the  rain  brings  death-dealing 
drouth.  Rain  and  sunshine  together  are  each  other's 
debtors  harmoniously  and  beautifully  to  clothe  this  earth 
with  green,  and  hasten  on  the  harvest  day. 


LETTER  OF  DR.  CRANE. 

[Read  by  Mr.  HOWARD.] 

Hon.  JAMES  L.  HOWARD. 

DEAR  BROTHER  : — I  continually  regret  that  the  state  of  my  health  for- 
bade my  acceptance  of  the  honorable  part  in  your  approaching  anniver- 
sary which  your  committee  assigned  to  me,  but  I  gladly  furnish  you  with 
a  few  reminiscences. 

It  has  always  seemed  to  me  of  the  ordering  of  a  gracious  Providence 
that  my  first  pastorate,  extending  from  1860  to  1878,  should  have  been  in 
the  city  of  Hartford.  Dr.  Horace  Bushnell,  the  man  of  marvellous  might 
and  valor  and  piety,  had  cleared  the  theological  atmosphere  of  all  that 
region.  He  had  made  it  safe  for  a  minister  to  think  honestly  and  inde- 
pendently, and  to  speak  fearlessly.  Having  been  myself  trained  by  Dr. 
Martin  B.  Anderson,  just  translated  to  the  skies,  and  Dr.  Ezekiel  G. 
Robinson  to  be  honest  with  myself  and  with  all  men,  I  found  it  easy  in 
Hartford  to  be  practically  loyal  to  those  two  great  teachers,  What  an 
honest,  and,  therfore,  what  a  powerful  pulpit  the  Hartford  pulpit  was  in 
those  days,  and  is  now.  The  ministers  were  consciously  free  men.  I  am 
sure  that  in  that  first  ministry  of  mine  I  formed  the  habit  of  independent 
thought  and  speech,  which  has  been  of  utmost  service  to  me  until  this 
hour. 

I  wish  that  time  would  permit  my  loving  and  grateful  mention  of  my 
ministerial  associates.  Four  of  them  are  still  with  you,  Drs.  Parker  and 
Twichell  and  Hodge  and  Father  Hughes,  all  of  them  men  whose  names 
are  precious  to  me.  Then  there  were  Drs.  Turnbull  and  Bushnell  and 
Hawes  and  Stowe  and  Washbourne  and  Spaulding  and  Doane  and  Aber- 
crombie  and  Calkins  and  Gould  and  Richardson  and  Jenkins  and  Gage 
and  Sage  and  Emerson  and  the  Andrews  brothers.  And  then  there  was 
Dr.  Burton,  that  loving  hero,  that  genial  giant,  that  anointed  soul,  so 
lately  vanished  into  the  heavens,  who  must  have  this  sentence  all  to  him- 
self. What  a  great  thing  it  was  that  in  my  opening  ministry  I  should 


LETTER  OF  DR.  CRANE.  165 

have  been  thrown  into  the  company  and  fellowship  of  such  men  as  these. 

But  I  must  cluster  my  memories  a  little  more  closely  about  your 
church.  Of  course,  Dr.  Turnbull  comes  to  the  front.  I  had  seen  and 
heard  him  once,  and  had  read  his  singularly  felicitious  translation  of 
Vinet's  Sermons.  I  admired  and  venerated  him.  When  I  was  in  Hart- 
ford as  a  candidate  for  the  pulpit  of  the  South  Baptist  Church  he  met 
me  most  cordially.  He  presided  at  the  council  for  my  ordination,  and  in 
the  public  services  that  followed,  gave  me  with  loving  words  the  hand  of 
fellowship.  He  officiated  with  Dr.  Murdock  at  my  marriage.  For 'ten 
years  or  more  we  were  fellow  pastors.  Day  by  day  he  grew  upon  me. 
He  was  pure,  true-hearted,  poetical,  generous,  charitable,  modest  and 
humble,  open,  brave,  godly.  All  these  adjectives  he  deserves.  Many 
times  when  I  was  over-worked  he  helped  me  by  encouraging  words  and 
by  pulpit  exchange.  He  rejoiced  in  my  successes  as  if  they  were  his 
own.  His  service  of  the  feebler  churches  in  the  closing  period  of  his  life 
had  about  it  the  charm  of  a  singular  Christian  consecration.  During  his 
last  sickness  our  infant  son  was  at  his  request  taken  into  his  room.  He 
laid  his  hands  upon  the  little  fellow's  head,  and  blessed  him  in  the  name 
of  the  God  of  Israel.  We  all  felt  that  the  blessing  would  abide.  When 
Dr.  Turnbull  died  I  knew  that  he  had  gone  to  heaven. 

Dr.  Sage,  my  old  college  friend,  was  Dr.  Turnbull's  worthy  successor. 
He  was  a  close  student,  a  clear  thinker,  master  of  a  most  felicitous  style, 
quick  to  get  at  the  heart  of  his  text,  observant  of  proportion  in  the  struc- 
ture of  his  sermons,  thoroughly  conscientious  in  all  his  work.  For  two 
days  and  two  nights  after  hearing  him  preach,  I  felt  that  I  could  never 
preach  again.  On  the  third  day  I  would  comfort  myself  that  I  could  do 
some  things  as  well  as  he,  and  so  would  cheer  up  and  trudge  on. 

I  wish  I  could  say  all  that  is  in  my  heart  of  certain  members  of 
your  church  whom  I  knew,  and  who  are  now  in  the  unseen  holy.  Rev. 
Gurdon  Robins  was  a  joy  to  me.  He  had  large,  thoughtful,  loving  eyes. 
He  seemed  a  Christian  Roman.  He  was  as  kind  to  me  as  if  I  had  been 
his  own  pastor.  Edward  Bolles  always  interested  and  pleased  me.  He 
was  quaint.  He  had  his  own  ways  of  thinking  and  speaking.  You 
always  were  curious  to  know  what  he  would  say  next.  He  was  a  man 
who  loved  the  Lord.  James  G.  Bolles  quite  realized  my  ideal  of  a 
Christian  gentleman.  He  was  sympathetic,  with  all  that  is  true  and 
beautiful  and  good.  He  was  another  of  your  members  that  often  en- 
couraged me  in  my  work. 

Then  there  are  members  of  your  church  still  living  whom  I  most 


166  LETTER  OF  DR.  CRANE. 

pleasantly  remember.  My  relations  with  yourself  personally  were 
specially  intimate,  for  the  reason  that  we  were  for  many  years  upon  the 
Boards  and  in  the  Executive  Committees  at  the  State  Convention  and  of 
the  Academy  of  Suffield.  I  can  bear  testimony  that  neither  of  us  ever 
spoke  a  sharp  word  to  the  other.  And  you  can  bear  testimony  that  I 
was  most  easily  led  by  any  one  who  was  bright  enough  not  to  let  me  see 
halter. 

You  have  a  man  among  you  whose  mother  and  sister  were  members  of 
my  own  church,  and  I  am  still  touched  by  his  uniform  and  most  en- 
couraging kindness  to  me.  Because  I  belonged  to  his  mother  and  sister, 
he  seemed  to  think  that  I  also  belonged  to  him. 

You  have  still  with  you  another  man,  one  who  has  so  long  dealt  in 
granite  that  he  has  become  himself  granitic,  occasionally  hovering  over 
this  region  which  I  now  inhabit,  a  man  who  has  taught  us  all  that  one 
can  be  engaged  in  large  and  exacting  business  and  at  the  same  time 
make  one's  self  an  authority  in  the  realms  of  profound  sholarship  and 
liberal  culture. 

But  I  must  not  go  on.  I  rejoice  over  the  good  and  true  men  and 
women  of  former  days,  over  the  good  and  true  men  and  women  of  to- 
day, of  whom  your  ancient  church  may  well  be  proud.  I  rejoice  that 
your  church  has  always  been  forward  in  promoting  the  prosperity  of  all 
Christian  enterprises.  I  rejoice  that  your  church  has  illustrated  loyalty 
to  truth  and  a  genuine  catholicity.  I  rejoice  in  your  noble  past,  and  in 
what  I  am  assured  will  be  your  noble  future. 

Saint  Paul  named  all  Christians  saints.  As  my  theology  is  Pauline,  I 
will  do  as  Saint  Paul  did,  and  venture  the  prediction  that  your  new  pas- 
tor, your  Saint  James,  will  lead  you  in  the  greenest  of  all  pastures  and 
beside  the  stillest  of  all  waters. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

CEPHAS  B.  CRANE. 
Concord,  N.  H.,  March,  1890. 


PRESENT    AUDIENCE    ROOM. 


LETTERS. 


LETTERS 

OF 

REGRET    AND    CONGRATULATION. 

Among  the  letters  received  were  the  following  : — 

From  the  Rev.    Dr.  WALKER,   Pastor  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 

March  22,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:— It  is  an  occasion  of  sincere  regret  to  me  that  I  am  not 
able  to  be  with  the  good  people  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  their  cen- 
tennial anniversary. 

I  should,  personally,  enjoy  meeting  with  them,  and  I  shall  still  more 
rejoice  in  the  expression  which  might  in  some  modest  sense  be  given  by 
my  presence  as  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Hartford  to  the  great  and, 
as  I  think,  blessed  increase  in  these  latter  days  of  the  spirit  of  fellow- 
ship and  brotherhood  among  Christians  of  different  names. 

When  I  look  back  on  the  difficulties  experienced  by  our  brethren  of 
the  Baptist  churches  in  getting  a  footing  in  this  colony  of  Connecticut, 
as  in  New  England  generally,  and  think  of  the  sincerity  of  their  faith, 
and  the  purity  of  their  works,  I  bless  God  that  we  are  fallen  on  times  of 
more  liberality  and  largeness  in  the  interpretation  of  the  will  of  God  and 
the  mind  of  Christ  concerning  the  unity  there  is  in  our  common  Lord. 

Your  church  may  well  congratulate  itself  on  its  hundred  years  of  his- 
tory in  this  place.  They  constitute  a  century  of  honorable  memories. 
Every  interest  this  place  has,  is  better  for  the  presence  here  of  the  faith- 
ful pastors  and  the  godly  brethren  and  sisters  who  have  given  name  and 
power  to  your  church  in  this  community.  It  certainly  must  be  the  hope 
and  prayer  of  all  who  love  the  cause  of  Christ  and  the  souls  of  men  that 
your  second  hundred  years  may  be  prosperous  and  useful  in  the  natural 
development  and  fruitage  of  your  past. 

With  hope  for  the  happy  progress  of  all  your  anniversary  exercises, 
I  am,  truly  yours, 

GEO.  LEON  WALKER. 
12 


170  LETTERS. 

From  the  Rev.  JAMES  R.  BOISE,  D.  D.,  of  The  Baptist 
Union  Theological  Seminary. 

MORGAN  PARK,  ILL.,  March  17,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  : — Accept  my  thanks  for  your  kind  remembrance. 
It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at  the  coming  anniversary  ;  but 
I  am  glad  to  send  the  assurance  of  my  Christian  love.  Perhaps  Bro. 
Dimock  will  remember  the  poor  little  timid  country  boy,  baptized  in 
May,  1831,  by  the  pastor,  Gustavus  F.  Davis. 

"  All  the  way  my  Saviour  leads  me, 
What  have  I  to  ask  beside  ?" 

We  shall  all  soon  meet  where  there  will  be  no  more  parting,  no  sin,  no 
sorrow  !     Death  cannot  enter  there  ! 
With  most  affectionate  greeting  to  all, 
Your  brother  in  Christ, 

JAMES  R.  BOISE. 


From  the  Rev.  Lucius  E.  SMITH,   D.  D.,  editorial  staff 
of  The  Watchman. 

NEWTON,  MASS.,  March  17,  1890. 

DEAR  SIR  : — Your  committee's  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  centen- 
nial service  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Hartford  was  gratefully  re- 
ceived. It  would  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  share  personally  in  the 
enjoyment  of  that  interesting  occasion.  My  connection  with  the  church 
did  not  exceed  two  years,  but  that  relation  and  other  incidents  of  my 
Hartford  sojourn  continue  fresh  in  my  memory,  and  are  among  my  most 
pleasing  recollections.  Dr.  Turnbull,  Rev.  Gurdon  Robins,  Deacons 
Bolles  and  Gilbert,  and  other  officers  and  members  of  the  church  will 
never  be  forgotten  while  life  and  memory  last.  I  should  greatly  enjoy 
your  commemoration,  but  circumstances  make  it  necessary  to  forego  the 
gratification. 

Yours,  with  grateful  regard, 

LUCIUS  E.  SMITH. 


LETTERS.  171 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  WAYLAND,  Editor  of  The  National 
Baptist. 

1420  CHESTNUT  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA, 

March  19,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  JAMES  :— I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  and  to  the  com- 
mittee for  the  courtesy  of  an  invitation  to  the  centennial,  and  regret  that 
the  pressure  upon  my  time  will  not  permit  me  to  be  present.  The  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Hartford  has  had  a  most  honorable  history.  I  have 
had  some  acquaintance  with  its  ministers  and  some  of  its  members  for, 
I  shudder  to  say,  forty  years.  Rev.  S.  M.  Whiting,  our  honored  mis- 
sionary in  Assam,  was  one  of  my  earliest  friends.  With  many  of  the 
pastors,  those  now  living  and  those  who  are  departed,  I  have  had  a  most 
pleasant  acquaintance,  as  also  with  that  excellent  layman,  Governor 
Howard,  whose  reputation  is  one  of  the  treasures  of  the  host  of  God's 
baptized  children  throughout  America. 

I  most  heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  past  success,  and  unite  with 
all  who  shall  be  present  in  the  hope  for  another  century  of  constantly 
deepening  spirituality  and  constantly  increasing  usefulness. 
With  very  sincere  regard, 

Very  truly  yours, 

H.  L.  WAYLAND. 


From  the  Rev.  A.  E.   DICKINSON,   D.  D.,  Editor  of  The 
Religious  Herald. 

1117  MAIN  STREET,  RICHMOND,  VA., 
March  18,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  BRO.  JAMES  : — Please  do  me  the  kindness  to  express  to  the 
brethren  and  sisters  of  your  noble  old  church  my  heartiest  congratula- 
tions and  best  wishes,  now  that  they  are  celebrating  their  centennial. 
For  a  church  to  have  lived  one  hundred  years  is  a  great  thing,  but  to 
have  lived  them  so  well,  to  have  sent  forth,  over  sea  and  land,  such 
holy,  uplifting  influences  as  have  gone  out  from  your  church,  is  a  far 
greater  thing. 

I  have  recently  been  looking  into  the  history  of  your  church,  under  the 
guidance  of  your  own  honored  and  venerable  Joseph  W.  Dimock,  and 


172  LETTERS. 

my  heart  went  up  to  God  in  thanksgiving  for  the  mighty  work  his  grace 
and  strength  had  enabled  you  to  do.  Speaking  for  Virginia  and  the 
South,  I  greet  you  in  the  name  of  our  common  Master  !  We  owe  you 
thanks  for  what  your  church  has  done  for  this  South  land.  The  names 
of  some  of  the  grand  men  you  have  given  the  denomination  are  house- 
hold names  among  us.  Your  senior  member,  Mr.  Dimock,  in  giving  his 
reminiscences,  may  not  tell  of  how  he  lived  and  toiled  for  Christ  in 
Richmond  and  Petersburg  and  Raleigh,  long  years  ago ;  but  what  he 
did  in  these  Southern  cities,  when  he  was  a  young  man,  is  still  bearing 
fruit.  And  when  your  James  L.  Howard  shall  arise  to  make  his  opening 
address,  it  will  be  natural  enough  for  your  people  to  say,  with  hearts 
swelling  with  thanksgiving,  "  He  is  ours  !"  And  yet  all  over  the  South, 
wherever  his  name  is  mentioned,  there  is  in  the  heart  of  every  loyal 
Baptist  the  feeling  "  he  is  mine  too."  He  belongs  to  us  all,  as  do  your 
James  G.  Batterson,  your  G.  F.  Davis,  your  W.  S.  Bronson,  and  many 
more  among  you,  whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  God. 

God  bless  you,  dear  brethren,  and  may  the  next  century  bring  your 
church  far  greater  prosperity,  and  may  its  history  grow  brighter  and 
better,  until  time  shall  be  no  more  ! 

Affectionately  and  truly  yours, 

A.  E.  DICKINSON. 


From  the  Rev.  J.  N.  MURDOCK,  D.  D.,  Cor.  Secretary 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

BOSTON,  March  22,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  :— I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  be  present  at 
the  commemoration  of  the  centennial  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
Hartford.  It  is  wise  and  every  way  becoming  to  review  the  long  and 
honorable  history  of  an  organization  which  has  been  a  potent  factor  in 
the  social  and  religious  progress  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  planted. 
The  personal  character  and  qualities  of  the  men  whose  lives  have  consti- 
tuted an  important  part  in  its  annals,  would  entitle  your  venerable  body 
to  the  most  honorable  distinction.  Men  like  John  Bolles,  Dea.  Joseph  B. 
Gilbert,  Edward  Bolles,  James  G.  Bolles  and  other  laymen,  who  have 
borne  its  burdens  and  contributed  to  its  prosperity,  and  Cushman  and 
Eaton  and  Sears  and  Davis  and  Turnbull,  and  others  who  taught  and 


LETTERS.  173 

trained  its  members  in  Christian  truth  and  Christian  living,  are  commem- 
orated in  its  records  and  exalted  in  the  praises  of  all  the  churches, 
while  through  its  pecuniary  -gifts  and  the  personal  labors  and  sacrifices  of 
its  members,  its  lines  have  gone  out  into  all  the  earth.  In  short,  in  all 
the  respects  in  which  there  can  be  growth  and  progress  in  a  Christian 
church  there  has  been  a  steady  advance  from  the  first  day  until  now ; 
while  in  the  things  which  cannot  be  moved,  that  is,  in  doctrine,  in  ex- 
perience and  in  practice,  you  abide  on  the  sure  foundation  of  apostles 
and  prophets,  with  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Chief  Corner  stone.  Blessed  is 
the  people  that  is  in  such  a  state. 

Sincerely  regretting  my  inability  to  share  in  the  sacred  festivities  of 
your  commemoration,  and  praying  that  the  blessing  of  God  may  abide 
with  you,  and  that  all  your  work  may  prosper, 

I  am,  yours  in  the  One  Hope  through  the  One  Name, 

J.  N.  MURDOCK. 


From  the  Rev.  P.  S.  MOXOM,  Pastor  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Boston. 

March  2oth,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  :— I  have  to  acknowledge  your  invitation  to  attend  the 
celebration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  your  church.  This  I  do 
with  most  hearty  thanks.  It  would  give  me  very  great  pleasure  to  accept 
your  invitation  were  not  my  duties  on  the  23d  and  24th  instants  such  as 
to  prevent.  But  I  do  send  you  warmest  congratulations.  My  regard  for 
the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Hartford  is  great ;  partly  because  among  its 
members  are  some  dear  and  honored  friends  ;  partly  because  all  I  have 
learned  of  the  church's  history  has  aroused  my  admiration  and  respect. 
It  is  a  noble  church  that  now  completes  its  first  century  of  earthly  life 
and  labor.  How  much  of  toil  and  trial  and  hope  and  achievement  that 
century  includes.  You  have  a  right  to  celebration  ;  a  right  to  the  glad 
and  grateful,  and  to  make  the  day  memorable  in  the  lives  of  all  who  are 
permitted  to  join  in  the  festivities. 

Though  I  cannot  be  with  you,  I  shall  thank  God  for  you  and  with  you  ; 
and  I  wish  for  church  and  pastor  every  blessing  that  Christian  hearts  can 
receive  or  even  desire. 

Most  sincerely  yours,  in  the  love  and  service  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

PHILIP  S.  MOXOM. 


174  LETTERS. 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  KING. 

ALBANY,  N.  Y.,  March  19,  1890. 
Hon.  J.  L.  HOWARD. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER: — I  thank  you  for  the  invitation  to  be  present  at  the 
Centennial  of  your  honored  church.  It  would  give  me  very  great  pleasure 
to  accept  it,  and  join  with  you  in  the  delightful  services,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible for  me  to  do  so.  I  can  only  send  you  my  sincere  congratulations 
over  a  history  so  rich  in  honored  names,  in  noble  sacrifices,  and  in  blessed 
successes.  Your  memories  will  be  most  precious  and  inspiring.  The 
faces  of  beloved  pastors,  and  faithful  deacons,  and  devoted  brethren  and 
sisters,  a  great  cloud  of  witnesses  who  have  ascended  to  the  church  on 
high,  will  seem  to  look  down  upon  the  occasion,  and  encourage  the 
living  to  renewed  fidelity  to  Christ  and  to  the  church  of  Christ,  with 
which  are  connected  many  of  the  most  hallowed  associations  of  earth. 
How  poor  we  should  be,  and  how  little  we  could  accomplish  for  God  or 
man,  were  it  not  for  the  fellowship  which  we  have  in  our  church-home, 
and  the  opportunities  which  it  furnishes  us  for  united  and  well-directed 
Christian  activity  ! 

I  thank  God  for  all  that  the  history  of  your  dear  old  church  includes  of 
labor,  of  prayer  and  of  rejoicing,  of  toil  expended  and  of  truth  defended, 
of  characters  matured  and  perfected,  and  of  souls  garnered  home  ;  and  I 
rejoice  that  the  church,  though  venerable  with  years,  is  still  vigorous 
with  youth  and  the  strength  that  is  unwasting.  The  evening  of  the  old 
century  brings  you  to  the  morning  of  a  new  century,  and  the  symbol  of 
your  church  will  be,  not  the  setting  sun  of  an  accomplished  work,  how- 
ever well  achieved,  but  the  morning  star  of  a  brighter  and  richer  future. 

I  do  not  forget  that  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Hartford  once  highly 
honored  me  by  calling  me  to  its  pulpit.  You,  perhaps,  never  knew  what 
a  narrow  escape  you  had.  I  certainly  have  often  thought  how  happy 
would  have  been  my  life,  and  how  successful  must  have  been  my  labors, 
seconded  by  your  generous  support,  if  the  pillar  of  cloud  had  only  gone 
that  way.  But  I  suppose  I  should  have  reached  the  promised  land  too 
soon.  I  need  not  say  that  that  pleasantly  remembered  courtship,  when 
you  were  younger  than  you  are  now,  and  not  so  wise  (the  church  I  mean), 
has  left  in  my  heart  an  abiding  interest  in  your  prosperity, — an  interest 
which  will  follow  you  with  many  prayers  and  all  best  wishes  as  you  em- 
bark upon  the  voyage  of  another  century. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

HENRY  M.  KING. 


LETTERS.  .    175 

From  the  Rev.  H.  W.  KNAPP,  D.  D. 

BROOKLYN,  March  19,  1890. 

DEAR  SIR  AND  BROTHER: — I  have  delayed  my  reply  to  your  Commit- 
tee on  Invitation  to  the  Centennial  of  your  church,  trusting  that  I 
might  be  present  on  the  two  days  of  the  feast.  But  I  find  at  this  late 
hour  that  I  cannot  do  so.  The  memories  of  fifty  years  ago  are  very  vivid, 
and  most  precious  to  me,  as  they  recall  Pastor  Eaton,  Rev.  Gurdon 
Robins,  Deacons  Gilbert,  Clapp,  Dimock,  Howard,  A.  T.  Hast- 
ings, Davis  and  others,  and  later,  that  saintly  name,  Dr.  Turnbull, 
with  a  precious  company  of  Masters  in  Israel,  whose  devotedness  and 
fidelity  honored  the  Master.  Never  can  I  praise  God  enough  for  the 
influence  of  your  dear  church  over  me.  Had  I  only  yielded  to  her  advice, 
and  obeyed  her  counsel,  I  would  have  been  saved  an  interim  of  back- 
sliding, and  gained  at  least  years  to  my  Lord. 

I  know  it  will  be  a  rare  and  glorious  centennial  to  the  church  and  all 
who  meet  with  her,  and  I  pray  God  it  may  be  a  day  of  his  power,  a 
day  of  deep  spiritual  blessing  and  salvation.  My  heart  will  be  with  you, 
as  my  prayers  also,  and  may  the  God  of  peace  make  it  "  the  beginning 
of  months,"  a  harvesting  time  of  great  abundance. 
I  am,  yours  in  Jesus, 

HALSEY  W.  KNAPP. 


From  the  Rev.  H.  H.  BARBOUR. 

CHICAGO,  March  aoth,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER: — I  am  grateful  to  the  Committee  for  the  kind  in- 
vitation given  me  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  First  Church,  and  deeply  regret 
that  I  cannot  participate  in  the  enjoyable  occasion. 

I  often  think  of  the  church,  and  the  happy  days  that  came  to  me 
through  its  instrumentality  in  the  years  gone  by.  To  my  boyish  imagin- 
ation, kindled  by  the  zeal  of  a  young  convert,  the  whole  world  seemed 
to  be  Beulah  land,  and  the  newly-erected  meeting-house  a  veritable 
temple  in  which  the  glory  was  ever  discernible. 

Indeed  even  now,  when  I  wish  to  be  perfectly  happy,  I  try  to  imagine 
myself  a  youngster  again,  in  one  of  the  church  prayer-meetings,  listen- 
ing to  Dr.  Turnbull,  Deacon  James  G.  Bolles,  Deacon  Howard  or  Super- 


176  LETTERS. 

intendent  Bronson,  seeing  good  old  brother  Arthur  dozing  in  his  accus- 
tomed place,  and  hearing,  above  all  other  voices  in  the  singing  of  the 
favorite  hymns,  those  of  "  Corney"  Wells  and  Alfred  Hanmer.  Of  these, 
most  vividly  remembered  by  me  in  the  church  life,  only  brethren  Howard 
and  Bronson  are  left.  But  how  rich  heaven  is,  and  how  much  we  shall 
feel  at  home  there  ! 

That  the  second  century  may  bring  to  the  First  Church  the  divine 
blessing  in  fullest  measure  is  the  prayer  of  my  heart. 
Sincerely  yours, 

H.  H.  BARBOUR. 


In  addition  to  the  above,  letters  or  telegrams  were  received  from  the 
following,  beside  many  others,  members  of  this  church  : — 

The  Rev.  G.  M.  Stone,  D.  D.,  Hartford. 

J.  Kittredge  Wheeler, 

H.  M.  Thompson, 

C.  D.  Hartranft,  D.  D., 

Geo.  Williamson  Smith,  D.  D., 

Graham  Taylor,  D.  D., 

E.  C.  Bissell, 

J.  Aspinwall  Hodge,  D.  D., 

Floyd  W.  Tomkins,  Jr., 

H.  H.  Kelsey, 
"        Wm.  DeLoss  Love, 

Clark  S.  Beardslee, 
"  James  E.  Holmes, 
"  George  R.  Warner, 
"  Frank  R.  Shipman, 

Rabbi  Meyer  Elkin, 

H.  J.  Gillette, 

Prof.  W.  R.  Harper,  New  Haven. 

The  Rev.  G.  S.  Goodspeed, 

"        E.  M.  Jerome,  " 

Eben  C.  Sage, 

Julius  Bond,  Plantsville. 

J.  B.  Connell,  Cromwell. 

James  G.  Ditmars,  Bridgeport. 

"        John  R.  Gow,  " 

B.  B.  Gibbs,  Bloomfield. 

"        A.  M.  Harrison,  New  London. 

"        Joseph  McKean,  Niantic. 


LETTERS. 


177 


The  Rev.  E.  W.  Potter, 
D.  D.  Read, 
Walter  Scott, 
J.  R.  Stubbert, 
J.  F.  Temple, 
O.  P.  Gifford, 

President  John  H.  Harris, 

The  Rev.  William  H.  Conard, 
R.  M.  Luther,  D.  D. 
William  Ward  West, 

Joseph  L.  Barbour,  Esq., 

L.  E.  Browne, 

George  H.  Burdick, 

Uriah  Case, 

J.  Crocker, 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Davis, 
"    Miles  W.  Graves, 

L.  B.  Haas, 

Mrs.  E.  C.  Hansell, 

Homer  Hastings, 

George  M.  Hersey, 

Miss  Niles, 

Mary  E.  Rose, 

James  R.  Stevens, 

F.  A.  Thompson, 

Mrs.  D.  W.  Tracy, 

H.  M.  Ventres, 

Mrs.  Delia  B.  Ward, 

William  H.  Wiley, 

S.  H.  Wilson, 

M.  E.  Arthur, 

Albert  Barrows, 

A.  P.  Carroll, 

C.  W.  Cook, 

Wm.  D.  Emerson, 

Ralph  L.  Gilbert, 

R.  F.  Hodge, 

Mrs.  P.  S.  Kelley, 
"    J.  T.  Lee, 

Matilda  S.  Lord, 

Sarah  C.  Mather, 

M.  R.  Shumway, 

Sarah  M.  Sibley, 

Mrs.  M.  E.  Smith, 
"    Mary  E.  Whiting, 

Mary  A.  Belt, 

Lizzie  M.  Barnard, 


Rockville. 

Plainville. 

Suffield. 

Putnam. 

Preston. 

Brookline,  Mass. 

Bucknell  University. 

Philadelphia. 

Pittsburg. 
Hartford. 


Willimantic. 

Norwich. 

Yalesville. 

Rockville. 

Hebron. 

Rainbow. 

Madison. 

Colchester. 

Deep  River. 

Mansfield. 

Meriden. 

Colchester. 

New  Haven. 

Boston,  Mass. 

Sturbridge,      " 


178 


LETTERS. 


Charles  C.  Farnham, 
Mrs.  Stedman  Garfield, 
Henry  G.  Granger, 
Mrs.  Mary  B.  Gladwin, 

"    Anna  W.  Hakes, 

"    G.  F.  Hickmott, 
Maria  M.  Woodbury, 
Mrs.  Fannie  A.  Bradstreet, 
Elizabeth  S.  Ashwell, 
Mrs.  Barker, 
Elijah  Bliss, 
F.  W.  Brewster, 
Emma  Caulkins, 
William  H.  Cotton, 
C.  W.  Dtmlap, 
Mrs.  A.  F.  Hastings, 

"    Higgins, 
Dantord  Knowlton, 
L.  B.  Page, 
Mrs.  Simmons, 
Margeret  St.  John, 
Estelle  F.  Taylor, 
L.  P.  Brockett, 
William  G.  Fulton, 
Mrs.  S.  C.  Law, 
Fannie  A.  Ormsbee, 
Mrs.  Witter, 
John  Northrup, 
Helen  Frances  Sage, 
Edward  J.  Brockett, 
Frank  L.  Moore, 
Mrs.  M.  J.  Chase, 
A.  M.  Greene, 
Miss  Mary  Grew, 
Hiram  Hoffman, 
George  Scatchard, 
Dr.  C.  S.  James, 
William  Roth, 
Lottie  M.  Barber, 
W.  E.  Thompson, 
E.  S.  Ballard, 
C.  S.  Goodman, 
Mrs.  A.  A.  Goodman, 

"    William  G.  Allen, 
John  S.  Hudson, 
Mrs.  John  M.  Bates, 


Randolph,  Mass. 
Springfield,      " 

Worcester,      " 

Newton, 
Groton,      " 
Royalston,  Vt. 
Providence,  R.  I. 
New  York. 


Brooklyn. 


Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Vassar  College. 

East  Orange,  N.  J. 

Chatham,     " 

Philadelphia. 


Allentown,  Pa. 

Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Davenport,  Iowa. 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 

San  Jose,     " 

Aiken,  S.  C. 

Orlando,  Fla. 

Valentine,  Neb. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


PASTORS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


STEPHEN  SMITH  NELSON,        - 

1796-1801. 

2. 

HENRY  GREW, 

1807-1811. 

3- 

ELISHA  CUSHMAN, 

1812-1825. 

4- 

CYRUS  PITT  GROSVENOR, 

1825-1826. 

5- 

BARNAS  SEARS, 

1827-1829. 

6. 

GUSTAVUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS,  - 

1829-1836. 

7- 

HENRY  JACKSON,    - 

1836-1838. 

8. 

JEREMIAH  SEWELL  EATON, 

1839-1844. 

9- 

ROBERT  TURNBULL, 

1845-1869. 

10. 

ADONIRAM  JUDSON  SAGE, 

1872-1884. 

n. 

LESTER  LEWIS  POTTER, 

1885-1887. 

12. 

JOHN  SEXTON  JAMES, 

1889. 

STEPHEN   S.    NELSON. 


ELISHA  CUSHMAN. 


HENRY  JACKSON,   D.D. 


JEREMIAH   S.   EATON 


EARLY     PASTORS. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH. 


ANTECEDENT   HISTORY. 

In  the  year  1611,  under  the  reign  of  James  I.,  in  the 
old  town  of  Litchfield,  England,  Edward  Wightman,  a 
Baptist  minister,  who  was  accused  by  the  dominant  hier- 
archy of  almost  every  heresy,  and,  worst  of  all,  the 
denial  of  the  divine  authority  of  infant  baptism,  was 
burned  at  the  stake.  A  little  less  than  a  hundred  years 
after,  in  1705,  a  descendant  of  this  noble  martyr,  Rev. 
Valentine  Wightman,  planted  at  Groton  the  first  Baptist 
church  in  the  "Province"  of  Connecticut,  from  which 
other  various  churches,  in  due  time,  have  been  formed. 
Among  her  first  children  was  the  First  Baptist  Church  in 
the  town  of  Suffield,  occupying  for  its  site  of  worship  that 
well-known  elevation,  "  Zion's  Hill."  Of  this  church 
Joseph  Hastings  was  pastor.  John  Hastings,  his  son, 
succeeded  him.  He  was  a  man  of  unusual  mental 
vigor  and  fervid  piety.  Several  churches  originated 
from  this  Zion's  Hill,  whither  the  scattered  tribes  of  our 
Israel,  in  former  days,  delighted  to  go  up  and  worship 
God  in  the  beauty  of  holiness.  Among  them  was  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  this  city. 

On  a  pleasant  Sunday  morning,  something  more  than 
one  hundred  years  ago,  might  be  seen  a  little  group 
wending  their  way  from  Hartford  through  the  green 


182  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

woods  and  meadows  of  the  Connecticut  valley  toward  the 
little  church  on  Zion's  Hill.  Among  them  was  a  man  of 
small  stature,  something  like  Zaccheus  of  old,  of  erect 
gait,  bright  eye  and  agile  movement.  Though  living 
eighteen  miles  from  Suffield,  he  was  wont,  on  pleasant 
days,  to  walk  the  whole  distance,  beguiling  the  way  with 
devout  meditation,  or,  if  some  younger  brother  chose  to 
accompany  him,  with  pleasant  talk  about  the  things  of 
the  kingdom.  This  was  Deacon  John  Bolles,  brother  of 
the  Rev.  David  Bolles,  and  uncle  of  the  late  excellent 
Rev.  Matthew  Bolles,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lucius  Bolles, 
so  well  known  in  connection  with  the  cause  of  foreign 
missions. 

THE   CHURCH    ORGANIZED. 

In  the  year  1789,  this  good  brother,  with  a  few  others, 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  or- 
ganize a  Baptist  church  in  the  city  of  Hartford.  Meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  Court-house  and  in  private  houses, 
and  on  the  5th  of  August  of  this  year  the  first  baptism 
was  administered  in  Hartford  At  a  meeting  held  Sep- 
tember /th,  at  seven  a.  m.,  at  the  dwelling-house  of 
Luther  Savage,  it  was  resolved  to  hold  regular  public 
services  on  Sundays,  as  a  Baptist  congregation.  Accord- 
ingly, the  first  meeting  was  held  October  i8th,  in  the 
dwelling-house  of  John  Bolles.  These  meetings  were 
continued,  and  in  the  ensuing  season  a  number  of  per- 
sons were  baptized  *  *  on  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ."  March  23d,  1790,  sixteen  brethren 
and  sisters  were  recognized  as  a  church  of  Christ,  by  a 
regularly  called  council,  over  which  the  Rev.  John 
Hastings  presided  as  Moderator. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  183 

An  earlier  mention  of  Baptists  in  Hartford  occurs  in 
Stiles'  "  History  of  Windsor,"  p.  439.  This  is  simply  a 
record  of  imprisonment  in  Hartford  of  Deacon  Nathaniel 
Drake,  Jr.,  for  non-payment  of  the  minister's  rates  and 
the  tax  for  building  a  meeting-house.  The  date  goes 
away  back  to  the  more  intolerant  times  of  1767.  Deacon 
Drake  pleaded  his  Baptist  connection  as  a  sufficient  ex- 
cuse for  paying  the  unjust  tax.  But  he  was  imprisoned 
nevertheless.  Neither  appeal  from  one  court  to  another, 
nor  from  the  courts  to  the  legislature,  secured  him  release 
from  his  persecutions. 

A  succession  of  obstacles  prevented  the  early  settle- 
ment of  a  pastor.  But  the  church  enjoyed  among  others 
the  pulpit  ministrations  of  the  Rev.  John  Winchell  and 
the  Rev.  Adam  Hamilton. 

PASTORATE    OF   THE   REV.    STEPHEN   SMITH   NELSON. 

In  the  winter  of  1796,  the  church,  through  the 
good  providence  of  God,  secured  the  labors  of  the 
Rev.  Stephen  S.  Nelson.  Under  his  faithful  minis- 
trations they  were  greatly  cheered  and  strengthened 
by  the  addition  of  a  considerable  number  of  con- 
verts. The  congregation,  at  first  small,  was  much 
increased,  so  that  they  were  encouraged  during  Mr. 
Nelson's  early  pastorate  to  erect  for  the  worship  of  God 
a  moderate-sized  frame  building  on  the  corner  Temple 
and  Market  Streets.  This  building  was  subsequently 
improved  and  is  now  used  as  a  place  of  business.  Mr. 
Nelson  was  born  in  Middleboro,  Plymouth  County, 
Mass.,  October  5,  1772.  He  was  converted  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  and  was  baptized  in  his  sixteenth  year  by 


184  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

the  Rev.  William  Nelson,  and  united  with  the  Baptist 
Church  at  Middleboro,  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
Isaac  Backus,  the  venerable  Baptist  historian,  and  the 
earnest  advocate,  in  early  times,  of  the  rights  of  con- 
science and  the  true  freedom  of  the  soul.  Mr.  Nelson 
was  graduated  at  Brown  University,  with  distinguished 
honor,  in  the  226.  year  of  his  age,  and  was  subsequently, 
for  many  years,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
that  institution.  On  leaving  college,  he  studied  theology 
with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stillman,  the  devout  and  eloquent 
pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Boston,  and  often 
assisted  him  in  his  labors  by  visiting  and  otherwise.  By 
this  means  he  acquired  a  thorough  practical  training  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  In  his  twenty-fourth  year  he 
was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.  After  laboring  two 
years  with  the  church  in  Hartford,  as  a  stated  supply,  he 
was  ordained  June  i5th  in  1798  as  their  pastor,  preach- 
ing to  them  at  first  in  an  upper  room  in  the  Old  Court- 
house. As  already  stated,  however,  the  church  soon 
secured  a  convenient  place  of  worship,  which,  though 
humble  in  its  appearance,  and  rough  in  its  furniture,  was 
found  to  be  a  true  Bethel,  "  the  house  of  God  and  the 
very  gate  of  heaven." 

At  this  time  there  were  but  three  or  four  liberally 
educated  Baptist  ministers  in  Massachusetts,  and  none 
but  Mr.  Nelson  in  Connecticut.  Nor  were  there  any 
other  churches  in  Hartford  but  the  Center  and  South 
Congregational,  and  Christ's  Church,  Episcopal. 

The  accurate  scholarship,  courteous  manners,  and  con- 
sistent piety  of  Mr.  Nelson,  served  greatly  to  aid  in  the  es- 
tablishment and  increase  of  the  Baptist  church  in  the  city. 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH  EDIFICE. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  185 

The  following  is  an  enlarged  fac-simile  of  an  advertise- 
ment, recently  clipped  from  a  copy  of  The  Courant  of 
March  22,  1798.  No  satisfactory  bidder  could  have  ap- 
peared. For  the  cupola  was  not  built  until  nearly  twenty 
years  later,  during  Mr.  Cushman's  pastorate : 


NOTICE. 

PROPOSALS  will  be  received  from  any  perfon 
willing  to  contraft  for  erefting  a  Tower  and 
Spire,  for  the  Baptift  Meeting-House  in  this  City 
— the  dimentions  of  which  muft  be  as  follows,  viz. 
The  Tower  to  be  14  feet  fquare,  and  in  height  and 
diameter  in  proportion  to  the  Tower.  The  whole 
to  be  done  in  a  plain,  but  workmanlike  manner. 
The  propofals  must  include  all  the  materials,  toge- 
ther with  the  erefting  and  finiftiing  the  fame  com- 
plete. The  payment  to  be  made  in  a  valuable 
tract  of  New  Land,  on  the  banks  of  Connecticut 
river, 

Propofals  will  likewise  be  received  for  finiftiing 
the  infide  of  faid  houfe.  Payment  as  above. 
Apply  to 

John  Eolles,  "|  « 
Samuel  Beckwith,  \  £ 
Ebenezer  Moore,  }-  £ 
Luther  Savage,  \  | 
Zecheriah  Mills,  J  U 

Hartford,  March  22. 
13 


186  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

There  was  no  man,  perhaps,  to  whom  the  church,  in 
the  early  period  of  its  history,  was  more  indebted  than  to 

DEACON   JOHN   BOLLES. 

He  was  a  remarkable  man,  a  Nathaniel  indeed,  in 
whom  there  was  no  guile.  Shrewd  beyond  most  men,  he 
never  failed  to  command  the  respect  of  his  acquaintances, 
and  everybody  loved  him.  Decided  in  his  principles,  his 
soul  overflowed  with  love  and  charity.  Easy,  nimble, 
cheerful,  he  was  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work. 
He  lived  for  others.  The  young,  especially,  loved  him. 
The  aged,  and,  above  all,  the  poor,  hailed  him  as  their 
friend.  He  was  perpetually  devising  something  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church  or  the  good  of  souls. 

How  or  when  he  was  converted  he  could  not  tell.  He 
was  brought  up  under  the  care  of  pious  parents,  and  in 
early  life  had  given  his  heart  to  Christ,  but  all  he  could 
say  about  it  was  that  God  had  been  gracious  to  him  and 
brought  him  into  his  fold.  When  he  related  his  experi- 
ence before  the  church  at  Suffield,  some  of  the  brethren 
hesitated  to  receive  him.  John  Hastings,  the  pastor, 
shrewdly  remarked,  however,  that  it  was  evident  that 
Brother  Bolles  was  in  the  way,  and  that  this  was  more  im- 
portant than  the  question  when  or  by  what  means  he  got 
into  it,  upon  which  they  unanimously  received  him.  He 
was  very  happy  in  his  connection  with  the  church  in 
Suffield.  The  members  were  all  his  friends.  To  illus- 
trate his  kindness,  the  following  story  may  be  told  from 
his  subsequent  life  in  Hartford.  A  certain  widow  Burn- 
ham  lived  all  alone  on  the  outer  edge  of  East  Hartford. 
One  severe  winter  a  fearful  snow-storm  had  raised  the 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  187 

roads  to  a  level  with  the  tops  of  the  fences.  The  deacon 
was  anxious  about  the  widow ;  he  was  afraid  that  she 
might  be  covered  with  the  snow  and  suffering  from 
want.  He  proposed  to  visit  her,  but  his  friends  thought 
it  perilous  to  cross  the  meadows.  Being  light  of  foot, 
however,  he  resolved  to  attempt  it.  The  weather  was 
cold  and  the  snow  slightly  crusted  on  the  top.  By  means 
of  this  he  succeeded,  with  some  effort,  in  reaching  the 
widow's  house.  As  anticipated,  he  found  it  covered 
with  snow  to  the  chimnies.  He  made  his  way  into  the 
house,  and  found  the  good  sister  without  fire  or  water. 
He  cut  paths  to  the  wood-pile  and  to  the  well,  and  as- 
sisted her  to  make  a  fire  and  put  on  the  tea-kettle.  He 
then  cut  a  path  to  the  pig-pen,  and  supplied  the  wants  of 
the  hungry  beast,  by  which  time  breakfast  was  ready.  » 
After  breakfast  he  read  from  the  Scriptures  and  prayed, 
and  was  ready  to  start  for  home.  In  the  mean  while,  the 
sun  had  melted  the  crust  of  the  snow,  and  as  he  was 
passing  through  the  meadows  he  broke  through.  He 
tried  to  scramble  out,  but  failed.  He  shouted,  but  there 
was  no  one  to  hear  him.  The  wind  blew  keenly,  and 
he  knew  not  but  that  he  must  remain  there  all  night 
and  perish  with  cold.  But  he  committed  himself  to 
God  and  sat  down  for  shelter  on  the  lee  side  of  his 
temporary  prison.  He  finally  made  a  desperate  effort, 
succeeded  in  reaching  the  edge,  and  found,  to  his  joy, 
that  the  freezing  wind  had  hardened  the  surface  of  the 
snow,  which  enabled  him  to  make  his  way  home. 

Deacon  Bolles   was   born   in    New    London  in  1752, 
and  died  in  this  city  in  1830,  at  a  good  old  age. 

About  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  cause  of  evan- 
gelical piety  in  Hartford,  and,  indeed,  throughout  New 


188  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

England,  was  in  a  most  languishing  condition.  The 
churches  of  the  "standing  order,"  as  they  were  called, 
suffered  from  the  indiscriminate  admission  of  members 
and  laxity  of  discipline,  consequent  upon  the  "half- 
way covenant  system."  Intemperance  was  common, 
and  by  no  means  infrequent  among  church  members. 
Infidelity,  too,  produced  by  the  reaction  from  the  Re- 
volutionary War,  and  the  influx  of  French  principles, 
had  infected  the  community.  No  revival  of  religion 
had  been  experienced  in  Hartford  from  the  days  of 
Whitefield,  and,  indeed,  the  idea  of  a  true  awakening 
among  Christians  was  scarcely  cherished,  except  among 
the  few  who,  both  in  Congregational  or  Baptist  churches, 
"  sighed  and  cried  over  the  desolations  of  Zion."  The 
Baptists,  indeed,  had  experienced  such  revivals  in  other 
places,  and  their  earnest  desire  in  Hartford  was  that  God 
might  appear  for  them  with  life-giving  power.  The 
desire  was  fulfilled  in  1798.  A  work  of  divine  grace 
commenced  in  the  Baptist  congregation,  under  the  labors 
of  Mr.  Nelson,  which  soon  extended  to  other  congrega- 
tions throughout  the  city  and  vicinity. 

A  conference  meeting  in  Hartford  was  held  in  the 
fall.  Nearly  all  the  members  of  the  Baptist  church  were 
present,  with  their  families,  and  one  or  two  Congrega- 
tional brethren,  among  whom  was  the  excellent  Deacon 
Colton,  who,  like  Deacon  Bolles,  was  a  lover  of  good 
men,  and  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  power  of 
the  spirit  was  manifest,  and  great  grace  was  upon  the 
assembly.  Two  brothers  were  brought  into  the  liberty 
of  the  gospel,  and  others  inquired  the  way  to  God. 
Meetings  were  appointed  every  night  in  different  places. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  189 

By  Sunday  the  meeting-house  was  full.  It  was  obvious 
to  all  that  God  had  begun  to  revive  his  work. 

Next  morning  Dr.  Strong  called  upon  Mr.  Nelson, 
and,  taking  him  aside,  he  said,  "Brother  Nelson,  the 
great  God  is  at  work  in  the  city  by  the  power  of  his 
Spirit.  The  work  evidently  has  begun  with  you,  and  I 
honor  the  grace  of  God  in  you.  Now,  when  I  bow 
the  knee  before  the  throne  of  grace,  I  pray  for  you  first, 
and  I  pray  that  the  work  may  increase  and  spread 
through  the  whole  community.  But  we  must  be  careful 
not  to  grieve  the  Spirit  by  any  collision.  Now,  I  propose 
that  those  awakened  in  your  congregation  shall  belong 
to  you,  and  those  in  mine  to  me."  Mr.  Nelson  replied 
that  he  honored  the  feelings  of  Dr.  Strong,  and  hoped 
that  nothing  would  occur  to  hinder  the  work.  "And 
now,"  said  he,  "as  we  both  believe  the  Bible  to  be 
supreme  authority  in  matters  of  religion,  I  propose  that 
we  refer  all  to  that  for  guidance.  I  will  charge  every 
one  to  be  not  brother  Nelson's  disciple,  nor  Dr.  Strong's 
disciple,  but  Christ's  disciple.  Therefore,  I  will  direct 
them  to  Christ  and  his  Word,  and  I  wish  you  to  do  the 
same."  "Very  well,"  said  Dr.  Strong,  "that  will  do," 
and  so  the  matter  passed. 

At  this  juncture  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boddily,  an  English 
"  Independent"  or  Congregationalist,  of  excellent  char- 
acter and  gifts,  who  had  been  known  in  Boston  to  Mr. 
Nelson,  made  him  a  visit  and  consented  to  preach  for 
his  brethren.  The  Baptist  church  was  over-crowded 
with  hearers,  and  they  adjourned  to  the  Center  Church. 
Mr.  Boddily  preached  from  the  text,  "  If  our  gospel  be 
hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that  are  lost."  Thirty  persons 


190  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

were  awakened  under  that  sermon.  The  work  went  on 
with  mighty  power.  Dr.  Strong  and  Mr.  Nelson  pro- 
posed to  hold  union  prayer-meetings,  which  was  readily 
agreed  to.  And  such  was  the  origin  of  those  conference 
and  union  prayer-meetings  which  have  been  observed  in 
Hartford,  more  or  less,  since  that  time,  in  all  the  evan- 
gelical churches. 

All  this,  of  course,  could  not  advance  without  opposi- 
tion from  the  world,  and  even  from  some  professors  of 
religion.  It  was  a  new  thing  in  Hartford.  It  appeared 
extravagance  and  even  fanaticism  to  some.  Others 
opposed,  because  the  great  work  was  something  new, 
and  others  because  they  saw  in  it  a  condemnation  of 
their  own  lives  and  a  dark  shadow  thrown  over  their 
future.  The  Baptists  were  objects  of  special  aversion. 
Their  evening  meetings  and  their  frequent  baptisms  in 
the  river,  excited  contemptuous  remarks,  and  occasion- 
ally threats  of  violence.  "Such  a  man,"  it  would  be 
said,  referring  to  some  active  Christians  among  them, 
"  holds  to-night  meetings.  He  ought  to  be  tarred  and 
feathered."  Scurrilous  poetry  was  circulated  through 
the  groceries  and  bar-rooms.  And  the  piety  of  the 
Separatists  and  Baptists,  as  they  were  styled,  became  the 
song  of  the  reveler  at  convivial  feasts.  But  Dr.  Strong 
and  a  number  of  the  more  spiritual  Congregational 
brethren,  among  whom  were  Deacons  Col  ton  and  Chapin, 
sympathized  in  the  work  of  God,  and  did  all  in  their 
.power  to  promote  it,  not  only  among  themselves,  but 
among  their  Baptist  brethren.  Dr.  Strong  even  went 
so  far  as  to  baptize  two  converts  in  the  river.  This  de- 
lightful revival  continued,  with  more  or  less  power,  till 
after  the  year  1 800. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  191 

At  the  first  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  Presidency 
of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Nelson  was  appointed,  with 
others,  by  the  Danbury,  now  the  Hartford  Baptist  Asso- 
ciation, in  behalf  of  that  body,  to  prepare  and  forward  to 
him  a  congratulatory  address,  recognizing  his  acknow- 
ledged attachment  to  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Mr. 
Jefferson  himself  happened  to  be  somewhat  among 
Baptists  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  life,  and  always 
admired,  as  he  said,  the  freedom  and  simplicity  of  their 
democratic  form  of  church  organization  and  government. 
It  is  not,  therefore,  a  matter  of  marvel  if  the  Baptists 
of  that  day  universally  recognized  the  well-known  love 
of  liberty  cherished  by  the  illustrious  framer  of  the 
Declaration  of  American  Independence. 

One  hundred  and  twenty-one  members  were  added  to 
the  church  during  Mr.  Nelson's  ministry. 

In  1 80 1  Mr.  Nelson  resigned  his  charge  in  Hartford, 
and  became,  for  a  number  of  years,  the  principal  of  a 
large  and  flourishing  academy  at  Mount  Pleasant,  now 
Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.  But  he  continued  successfully  to 
preach  the  gospel  there  and  in  the  neighboring  towns. 
In  1825  he  removed  to  Amherst,  Mass.,  and  there  died 
December  8,  1853,  in  his  eighty-second  year,  leaving  an 
unblemished  reputation. 

Brief,  pointed,  earnest,  evangelical,  Mr.  Nelson's 
preaching  was  eminently  sound  and  practical.  His  voice 
was  clear  and  ringing ;  his  manner  was  impressive  and 
dignified,  as  became  "an  ambassador  for  Christ."  His 
life  was  simple,  serene,  and,  especially  in  his  later  years, 
heavenly.  "He  seemed,"  said  a  dear  friend  and  rela- 
tive, "to  move  among  men  in  the  quietness  of  his  own 


192  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

reflections,  above  and  aside  from  the  cares  and  the  con- 
flicts of  outward  life,  at  peace  with  God  and  at  peace 
with  men.  '  Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the  up- 
right, for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace.'  " 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Nelson  from  Hartford  in 
1 80 1,  the  church  was  supplied  temporarily  by  the  Rev. 
David  Bolles  of  Ashford.  Mr.  Bolles  did  not  long  retain 
his  connection  with  the  church,  but  at  his  own  reqtiest 
was  dismissed,  and  returned  to  his  former  residence  in 
Ashford.  For  some  years  the  church  was  supplied  by 
Deacon  Robins,  a  licensed  preacher  and  himself  a  mem- 
ber of  this  church.  He  was  the  father  of  the  Rev. 
Gurdon  Robins,  and  grandfather  of  the  Rev.  Henry  E. 
Robins,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.  He  died  at  Hartford,  June  30, 
1829,  in  his  seventy-seventh  year. 

PASTORATE    OF   THE    REV.    HENRY    GREW. 

In  1807,  the  Rev.  Henry  Grew  of  Providence,  R.  I., 
became  the  pastor  of  the  church.  His  ministry  began 
acceptably.  Soon  after  his  settlement  an  interesting 
revival  of  religion  was  enjoyed,  and  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  converts  were  added  to  the  church.  Coming  to 
adopt  sentiments  and  usages  different  from  those  of  the 
church,  his  connection  was  dissolved  May,  1811,  after  a 
pastorate  of  four  years. 

Fifty-six  members  were  added  to  the  church  during 
Mr.  Grew's  ministry. 

Mr.  Grew  was  born  in  Birmingham,  England,  Decem- 
ber 25,  1781.  His  father,  John  Grew,  was  a  merchant, 
and,  believing  that  his  sons  would  find  better  opportuni- 
ties in  the  United  States,  he  removed  hither  with  his 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  198 

family  in  1795.  He  died  four  year  later,  and  his  eldest 
son,  Mr.  John  Grew,  succeeding  to  his  business,  became 
one  of  Boston's  influential  citizens.  Henry,  the  second 
son,  was  designed  by  his  parents  for  a  mercantile  career, 
but  he  was  drawn  by  conviction  of  duty  to  the  ministry. 
His  studious  tastes  and  habits  no  doubt  strengthened 
this  tendency. 

His  parents  were  members  of  a  Congregational  church, 
but  in  his  youth  their  son  Henry,  through  his  study  of 
the  New  Testament,  came  to  a  belief  that  immersion  is 
requisite  to  Christian  baptism.  And  he  joined  a  Baptist 
church  in  Providence,  whither  he  went  to  reside  very 
early  in  the  century. 

It  is  evident  that  a  degree  of  freedom  of  thought, 
unusual  in  those  days,  was  encouraged  and  exercised  in 
his  father's  family,  for  the  mother  afterwards  became  a 
Baptist,  and  the  eldest  son  a  member  of  Dr.  Channing's 
congregation. 

Mr.  Grew  began  his  ministry  with  this  church.  After 
the  termination  of  his  pastorate  he  resided  many  years  in 
Hartford,  subsequently  in  Boston,  and  later  in  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  died  on  the  8th  of  August,  1862,  in 
his  eighty-second  year.  He  continued  his  work  of 
preaching  until  near  the  close  of  his  life. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  character  and  decided  convic- 
tions ;  skilled  in  polemics,  and  of  quiet  and  gentle 
manners.  His  most  prominent  characteristic  was 
absolute  loyalty  to  truth  and  right,  as  they  were 
apprehended  by  him.  From  such  loyalty  no  con- 
sideration of  consequences  could  turn  him  aside.  For 
his  faith  was  that  right  is  absolute  always,  and  neces- 


194  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

sarily,  expedient,  and  that  the  Ruler  of  the  universe 
could  be  trusted  with  the  results  of  obedience  to 
his  own  laws.  He  might  have  said,  ' '  Let  justice  be 
done,  though  the  heavens  fall."  But  he  never  for  a 
moment  feared  that  they  would  fall.  Accordingly,  he 
was  an  earnest  and  active  Abolitionist.  And  during 
the  long  conflict  between  liberty  and  slavery,  he  faith- 
fully served  the  cause  of  the  American  slave  with  his 
voice  and  purse. 

His  life  of  active  philanthropy  was  not  limited  to  one 
field  of  labor.  His  quick  sympathy  and  large  generosity 
led  him  to  respond  promptly  and  liberally  to  the  numer- 
ous claims  made  upon  all  benevolent  persons.  In  the 
joy  of  giving  he  was  abundantly  recompensed  for  the 
self-denial  in  his  personal  expenditures  which  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  impart  freely  to  others. 

Twice  he  visited  his  native  land ;  the  second  time  a 
delegate  to  the  World's  Anti-Slavery  Convention,  held  in 
London  in  1840. 

As  he  lived  so  he  died,  in  serene  trust,  in  vigorous 
faith,  and  undoubting  hope  of  blessed  immortality. 

PASTORATE    OF   THE    REV.    ELISHA   CUSHMAN. 

Mr.  Cushman  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  1812. 
He  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  celebrated  Robert 
Cushman,  who  had  much  to  do  in  establishing  the  Ply- 
mouth colony.  After  serving  the  church  for  a  number 
of  months  as  preacher,  Mr.  Cushman  was  ordained  June 
1 6th,  1813,  and  continued  in  the  pastorate  until  April  i, 
1825,  when,  after  his  repeated  request,  he  was  honorably 
dismissed  for  another  charge.  He  was  a  man  of  superior 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  195 

natural  gifts,  which  he  had  sedulously  cultivated  by 
reading  and  reflection.  This,  aided  by  his  heart-felt 
piety,  made  him  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the 
early  pastors.  His  memory  is  dear  to  some  of  the  older 
members  still  living.  During  his  ministry  the  church 
enjoyed  three  revivals  of  religion,  and  was  greatly  in- 
creased and  encouraged.  The  old  meeting-house  on 
Market  Street  was  raised,  a  basement  was  provided,  a 
tower  or  cupola  added,  and  a  church  bell  placed  in  the 
tower.  The  bell  was  the  gift  of  Bro.  Caleb  Moore.  And 
the  house  was  otherwise  improved.  A  church  in  East 
Windsor  was  formed  from  members  belonging  to  this 
body,  over  which  the  Rev.  Gurdon  Robins,  a  licensed 
minister  of  the  church,  presided.  The  work  of  Foreign 
Missions  was  taken  up  in  earnest.  The  church,  with  its 
pastor,  incited  by  the  presence  of  the  Rev.  Luther  Rice, 
who  had  returned  from  India,  took  the  initiative  in 
this  matter.  A  circular  was  issued  to  all  the  Baptist 
ministers  and  churches  in  the  state  inviting  a  council,  and 
resulting  in  a  state  organization  auxiliary  to  the  Boston 
society. 

Two  hundred  and  thirty-five  members  were  added  to 
the  church  during  Mr.  Cushman's  pastorate. 

Mr.  Cushman  was  popular  as  a  preacher  even  with 
other  Christian  denominations,  and  was  often  called  to 
preach  or  deliver  addresses  on  public  occasions.  He  had 
unusual  gifts  of  utterance,  with  deep  sensibility,  and  a 
fine  play  of  genial  wit  and  fancy.  His  discourses  were 
well  arranged,  simple  and  scriptural,  with  apt  illustra- 
tions and  impressive  figures.  Above  all,  they  were  per- 
vaded with  a  fervid  piety  and  appealed  directly  to  the 
conscience. 


196  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

He  was  born  at  Kingston,  Mass.,  in  1788,  and  was 
converted  in  his  twentieth  year.  He  soon  began  to 
preach,  and  supplied  the  church  in  Graf  ton  for  a  year. 
After  this  he  aided  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cornell,  of  Providence, 
R.  I.,  in  preaching  and  other  pastoral  duties.  Then  he 
came  to  Hartford,  whence  he  removed  to  Philadelphia, 
and  labored  with  success  for  years  in  the  New-Market 
Street  Baptist  Church.  From  this  place  he  returned  to 
Connecticut,  and  preached  with  acceptance  and  useful- 
ness to  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  New  Haven.  The 
last  scene  of  his  pastoral  activity  was  Plymouth,  Mass. 
He  gave  up  his  pulpit  labors  on  account  of  his  health, 
and  returned  once  more  to  Connecticut,  becoming  a 
resident  of  this  city.  Here  he  edited  the  Christian 
Secretary,  which,  when  a  pastor,  he  had  helped  to  estab- 
lish, in  connection  with  Mr.  Robins,  Mr.  Canfield,  Mr. 
Dimock  and  others. 

His  health  gradually  gave  way,  and  he  died  among  his 
old  friends  and  family  connections  October,  1838,  at  the 
age  of  fifty. 

In  1824  the  basement  of  the  house  of  worship  on 
Market  Street  was  used  by  the  new  Episcopal  College, 
now  Trinity,  then  called  Washington. 

PASTORATE    OF   THE    REV.    CYRUS   PITT   GROSVENOR. 

Mr.  Cushman  was  succeeded  August  soth,  1825,  by  the 
Rev.  C.  P.  Grosvenor,  who,  at  the  end  of  one  year,  at  his 
own  request,  was  dismissed  to  accept  the  pastorate  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Boston,  Mass.  He  was  born  in 
Graf  ton,  Mass.,  October  18,  1792,  and  was  a  son  of  the 
Rev.  Daniel  and  Deborah  (Hall)  Grosvenor.  He  died  in 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  197 

Albion,  Michigan,  February  n,  1879.  His  early  years 
were  spent  in  school,  on  the  farm,  and  in  part  as  a  mer- 
cantile clerk.  He  entered  Dartmouth  College  at  the  age 
of  twenty-one,  and  was  graduated  in  1818.  In  his  first 
college  year  he  united  with  the  Congregational  Church. 
The  year  following  his  graduation  he  was  Principal  of 
the  Academy  in  Haverhill,  N.  H.  He  then  commenced 
the  study  of  theology  with  his  father  in  Petersham,  Mass. 
Soon  after  he  spent  a  year  as  a  student  at  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  where  began  his 
change  of  views  in  regard  to  baptism.  In  1821  he  was 
licensed  by  the  Brookfield  Association  of  Congregational 
Ministers.  After  continuing  the  study  of  the  subject  of 
baptism,  he  was  baptized  May  i8th,  1823,  by  the  Rev. 
Richard  Fuller,  D.  D.,  in  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  the  next 
day  was  ordained  as  an  evangelist. 

Mr.  Grosvenor  was  a  man  of  culture  and  character. 
He  was  a  pronounced  Abolitionist  in  advance  of  the 
spirit  of  the  times.  He  expressed  his  views  fearlessly, 
and  endured  the  opposition  resulting  manfully. 

Nine  members  were  added  to  the  church  during  his 
ministry. 

The  church  was  now  supplied  for  a  year  by  the  Rev. 
John  E.  Weston,  of  Reading,  Mass.,  a  devout  and  affec- 
tionate minister  of  Christ,  to  whom  the  members  of  the 
church  became  warmly  attached.  His  health,  however, 
was  too  feeble  to  admit  of  the  multiplied  duties  of  the 
pastorate.  He  was  subsequently  settled  in  East  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  and  was  drowned  at  Wilmington,  in  that 
state,  while  on  his  way  to  preach  in  Nashua,  N.  H.  Mr. 
Weston  was  the  father  of  the  honored  President  of 


198  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

Crozer  Theological  Seminary,  the  Rev.  Henry  G.  Wes- 
ton,  D.  D. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  BARNAS  SEARS,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

For  two  years  the  Rev.  Barnas  Sears  discharged  ac- 
ceptably the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  He  commenced 
his  labors  May  19,  1827,  was  ordained  July  nth,  and 
was  dismissed,  at  his  own  request,  in  March,  1829.  He 
was  soon  after  elected  a  Professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

Dr.  Sears  was  born  at  Sandisfield,  Mass.,  November 
19,  1802.  He  was  graduated  from  Brown  University 
with  the  honors  of  his  class  in  1 82  5 .  After  a  course  of 
theology  at  Newton,  his  pastorate  here  began.  In  1833 
Dr.  Sears  visited  Germany  for  the  further  prosecution  of 
his  studies.  He  there  baptized  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  G. 
Oncken,  at  Hamburg,  in  the  river  Elbe,  with  six  others, 
on  the  night  of  April  22,  1834. 

Returning  home,  Dr.  Sears  became  a  Professor  in 
Newton.  In  1855  he  succeeded  Dr.  Francis  Wayland  to 
the  Presidency  of  Brown  University.  In  1 867  he  became 
the  agent  for  the  Peabody  Educational  Fund,  retaining 
that  position  until  his  death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight, 
in  the  year  1880. 

Twenty-nine  members  were  added  to  the  church  dur- 
ing Dr.  Sears'  pastorate.  In  November,  1828,  a  lot  was 
purchased  on  Main  Street  for  the  new  house  of  worship 
subsequently  erected  during  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Davis. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  GUSTAVUS  FELLOWES  DAVIS,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Davis  was  called  to  the  pastorate  May  i9th,  and 
began  his  labors  as  pastor  July  29th,  1829.  He  continued 


THE  SECOND  CHURCH  EDIFICE. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  199 

to  serve  the  church  until  his  death,  never  ceasing  to 
command  in  a  high  degree  the  respect  and  affection,  not 
only  of  the  church,  but  of  the  whole  community.  He 
was  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  successful  pastors  in  New 
England,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  greatly  aided  in 
strengthening  and  increasing  the  church.  He  combined 
in  a  high  degree  all  the  qualities  which  secure  pastoral 
success.  His  connection  with  the  church  was  a  happy 
one,  both  for  himself  and  the  cause  of  Christ  in  Hartford. 
Although  he  died  fifty-four  years  ago  his  memory  is  still 
fresh  among  us,  and  will  be  ever  dear  to  the  hearts  of 
those  who  knew  him.  He  was  instant  in  season  and  out 
of  season  in  his  work  of  faith  and  labor  of  love  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  souls. 

During  his  ministry  two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  were 
added  to  the  church. 

The  church  edifice  on  Main  Street  was  begun  soon 
after  Dr.  Davis  came  on  the  field.  The  corner  stone 
was  laid  April  30,  1830,  and  the  house  dedicated  March 
23d,  1831.  The  dimensions  were  eighty-four  feet  by 
sixty. 

The  South  Baptist  Church  in  this  city  was  formed 
October  17,  1834,  of  members  from  the  First  Church, 
with  Dr.  Davis'  cordial  approval.  Their  first  house  of 
worship  on  Main  and  Sheldon  Streets  was  erected 
through  the  joint  contributions  of  the  new  and  the 
mother  church.  The  Connecticut  Literary  Institution  at 
Suffield  was  established  largely  through  Dr.  Davis'  in- 
fluence. All  our  benevolent  societies  shared  in  his 
sympathies,  and  he  was  never  happier  than  when  pro- 
moting their  interests  and  extending  their  influence.  He 


200  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

labored  to  build  up  the  feeble  churches  in  the  state,  and 
did  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  cause  of  ministerial 
education  and  the  foreign  missions. 

For  a  brief  biographical  sketch  reference  is  made  to 
the  address  of  Deacon  Davis,  page  27. 

In  August,  1836,  during  a  visit  to  his  native  place,  he 
was  taken  sick  and  died,  September  nth,  in  the  full 
maturity  of  his  powers  and  usefulness.  His  body  was 
brought  by  loving  friends  to  Hartford,  to  the  spot  dearest 
to  him  on  earth,  the  church  in  which  he  had  so  successfully 
proclaimed  the  gospel  of  Christ.  An  immense  concourse, 
containing  representatives  from  all  denominations  of 
Christians,  attended  his  funeral  and  followed  his  remains 
to  the  grave,  amid  the  tears  of  thousands  who  thronged 
the  streets  and  manifested  their  respect  for  his  memory. 
The  following  hymn,  written  by  Mrs.  Sigourney,  was 
sung  on  the  occasion  : — 

"  Pastor,  thou  from  us  art  taken, 

In  the  glory  of  thy  years  ; 
As  the  oak,  by  tempest  shaken, 
Falls  ere  time  its  verdure  sears. 

Here,  where  oft  thy  lips  have  taught  us 

Of  the  Lamb  who  died  to  save  ; 
Where  thy  guiding  hand  hath  brought  us, 

To  the  deep  baptismal  wave, 

Pale  and  cold,  we  see  thee  lying, 

In  God's  temple,  once  so  dear, 
And  the  moment's  bitter  sighing 

Falls  unanswered  on  thine  ear. 

All  thy  love  and  zeal  to  lead  us 

Where  immortal  fountains  shine, 
And  on  living  bread  to  feed  us, 

In  our  sorrowing  hearts  we  shrine. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  201 

May  the  conquering  faith  that  cheered  thee, 

When  thy  foot  on  Jordan  pressed, 
Guide  our  spirits  while  we  leave  thee 

In  the  tomb  that  Jesus  blest." 

Dr.  Davis  had  special  traits  of  character.  He  was  by 
natural  constitution  buoyant  and  self-reliant,  full  of  hope 
and  cheer.  This,  added  to  his  hearty,  courteous  manner, 
made  him  a  universal  favorite.  Everybody  knew  him ; 
everybody  loved  him.  The  children  in  the  streets 
brightened  at  his  ready  smile.  He  was  good-natured  to 
a  proverb.  He  felt  for  the  poor;  he  sympathised, 
indeed,  with  all,  and  would  give  his  last  dollar  to  a  suf- 
fering friend.  He  was  a  great  reader  of  the  Bible,  and 
his  sermons  were  studded  with  gems  from  the  Scripture. 

During  his  pastorate  a  legacy  of  $5,000  came  to  the 
church  by  the  will  of  a  respected  member,  Bro.  Caleb 
Moore. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  HENRY  JACKSON,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Davis  was  followed,  December  ist,  1836,  by  his 
intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  Henry  Jackson.  Dr.  Jackson 
had  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  church  during  the 
winter  of  Mr.  Cushman's  illness  some  fifteen  years 
before.  His  settlement  as  pastor  was  productive  of  great 
benefit  to  the  church,  but  unhappily  lasted  only  two 
years.  A  glorious  outpouring  of  the  Divine  Spirit  oc- 
curred in  1838,  and  was  enjoyed  by  all  the  evangelical 
churches  in  the  city.  This  work  of  grace  was,  in  many 
respects,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  delightful  ever 
experienced  in  Hartford.  Over  a  thousand  were  added 
to  the  different  churches.  Many  wanderers  were  re- 


202  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

claimed,  and  all  the  churches  were  greatly  cheered  and 
strengthened. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  born  in  Providence,  June  16,  1798. 
He  was  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1817. 
During  his  collegiate  course  he  was  converted,  and 
united  with  the  First  Baptist  Church  at  Providence.  He 
pursued  theological  studies  at  Andover,  and  was  ordained 
November  27,  1822.  His  first  settlement  was  with  the 
Charlestown  Baptist  Church,  where  he  remained  from  his 
ordination  until  his  settlement  with  this  church.  He 
was  greatly  blessed  at  Charlestown,  and  was  instrumental 
in  founding  the  Charlestown  Female  Seminary.  He  was 
also  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Newton  Theological 
Institution,  and  from  its  origin  until  his  death  he  was  a 
member  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 

At  Hartford  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  were  added 
to  the  church  during  his  pastorate. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  greatly  beloved,  and  is  still  remem- 
bered with  profound  affection.  He  was  subsequently 
settled  at  New  Bedford,  where  nearly  four  hundred  were 
added  to  the  church.  After  a  seven  years'  settlement,  he 
became  the  first  pastor  of  the  newly-organized  Central 
Baptist  Church  of  Newport.  There  he  remained  for 
sixteen  years.  Three  hundred  and  seventy  members 
were  brought  into  the  church  during  his  pastorate.  He 
died  March  2,  1863. 

In  his  forty  years'  ministry  he  baptized  nearly 
nine  hundred  persons,  and  welcomed  five  hundred  more 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  several  churches  he  served. 
He  was  an  earnest,  affable,  Christian  gentleman,  and  a 
faithful  preacher  of  the  gospel. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  303 

During  the  vacancy  of  nearly  one  year  which  followed 
the  resignation  of  Dr.  Jackson,  the  pulpit  was  supplied 
by  the  venerable  Rev.  William  Bentley,  who  on  this, 
and  on  several  occasions,  did  good  service  to  this  church 
in  the  cause  of  Christ. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  JEREMIAH  SEWELL  EATON. 

The  Hartford  pastorate  was  Mr.  Eaton's  first.  He 
came  fresh  from  Newton  with  his  young  wife,  and,  as 
with  Nelson,  Grew,  Cushman  and  Sears,  he  received 
ordination  here.  Mr.  Eaton's  labors  began  November 
12,  1839.  He  faithfully  and  diligently  discharged  his 
duties  until  his  resignation,  May  25,  1844.  During  his 
administration  the  church  enjoyed  a  great  measure  of 
prosperity,  and  in  1841  especially,  received  a  large 
accession  of  converts.  On  March  /th  of  that  year  one 
hundred  and  forty  persons  received  the  hand  of 
church  fellowship  from  Mr.  Eaton,  and  among  the 
number  were  fifty  heads  of  families!  In  the  meetings 
of  this  and  the  following  season,  Rev.  Jacob  I.  Knapp  and 
others  preached  as  helpers  to  the  pastor.  There  were 
many  converts,  and  among  them  Deacon  James  G.  Bolles 
and  other  most  valuable  members. 

Mr.  Eaton  was  born  in  Ware,  N.  H.,  in  June,  1810. 
While  pursuing  studies  at  New  Hampton,  and  after 
a  protracted  struggle  with  Universalist  sentiments,  with 
which  he  had  been  contaminated,  he  was  converted, 
and  August  15,  1830,  he  was  baptized.  He  sub- 
sequently entered  college  at  Georgetown,  Kentucky, 
but  in  1833  removed  to  Union  College,  where  he  was 
graduated  July  22,  1835.  He  then  became  a  Professor 


804  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

in  Haddington  College,  near  Philadelphia.  From 
there  he  went  to  Newton  Theological  Institution, 
where  he  was  graduated  August  2ist,  1839.  After  his 
five  years'  pastorate  at  Hartford,  he  became  pastor 
of  the  Free  Street  Baptist  Church,  Portland,  Me., 
where  he  remained  for  ten  years.  His  resignation 
was  brought  about  because  of  ill  health.  He  died 
at  Portland,  September  27,  1856.  His  memory  is  fra- 
grant in  Hartford  to  this  day.  Many  of  the  most  sub- 
stantial members  of  the  church  were  brought  into  the 
church  during  his  ministry.  Mr.  Eaton  was  a  man 
of  active  sympathies.  The  meetings  at  his  own  house 
for  the  young  are  even  now  warmly  recalled.  He  thus 
brought  himself  near  to  the  needs  and  the  sympathies  of 
those  of  tender  years.  But  side  by  side  with  his  sym- 
pathies there  was  sterling  character.  Illustrating  this  is 
the  following  incident,  furnished  by  Mr.  Howard,  who 
was  present  on  the  occasion.  Even  then  as  a  very 
young  man  he  was  a  friend  to  his  pastor,  just  as 
he  has  always  been  in  subsequent  years.  Mr.  Eaton 
was  called  to  go  down  on  Charles  Street,  and  invited 
Mr.  Howard  to  go  with  him.  They  found  a  family 
all  together  in  one  room,  and  a  man  lying  on  the  bed 
in  very  great  agony  of  mind.  He  begged  Mr.  Eaton 
to  pray  with  him,  and  for  him.  The  man  had  been  a 
notorious  character,  and  of  pronounced  intemperate 
habits.  Mr.  Eaton  asked  him  if  he  was  ready  to  give  up 
all  his  habits  of  drink.  The  man  said  he  didn't  want  to 
do  that.  But  Mr.  Eaton  told  him  there  was  no  use  to 
pray  with  him  if  he  clung  to  the  drink.  Finally,  the  man 
broke  down  and  promised  he  would  never  drink  any 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  205 

more.  Then  Mr.  Eaton  prayed  for  him.  It  was  a  most 
earnest  prayer.  The  man  was  converted,  and  with 
him  his  wife  and  children.  They  all  became  useful 
members  of  the  church.  He  continued  faithfully  in  the 
church  until  his  death,  and  was  one  of  the  leading 
Washingtonians. 

Mrs.  Eaton,  the  pastor's  devoted  wife,  was  so  dearly 
beloved  that,  years  after  her  husband's  death,  the  church 
invited  her  to  become  the  pastor's  assistant.  Her  labors 
in  this  relation  continued  for  years,  and  left  a  permanent 
impress  for  good  upon  the  church. 

During  Mr.  Eaton's  pastorate  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  members  were  added  to  the  church. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  ROBERT  TURNBULL,  D.  D. 

In  the  interim  of  one  year  following  the  close  of  Mr. 
Eaton's  labors,  the  church  twice  invited  Dr.  Turnbull  to 
become  its  pastor.  Assenting  at  last,  he  began  July  4th, 
1 845 ,  the  last  and  most  important  pastorate  of  his  life.  To 
the  church  this  settlement  became  the  longest,  and  in 
many  respects,  the  most  significant  in  its  history.  Dr. 
Turnbull  was  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  Added 
to  a  thorough  training  in  the  schools,  he  had  fifteen 
years  experience  in  the  pastoral  office.  Settled  first  in 
his  native  Scotland,  then,  after  1833,  in  his  adopted 
country,  he  served  successively  the  churches  at  Danbury ; 
Detroit,  Michigan  ;  the  South  Baptist,  in  Hartford; 
and  the  Harvard  Street  Church,  in  Boston.  He  never 
removed  his  membership  from  this  church  nor  his  resi- 
dence from  Hartford.  When  he  began  his  pastorate 
here,  the  church  had  acquired  something  of  the  strength 


206  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

to  be  anticipated  from  its  history  of  fifty-three  years. 
The  congregation  was  large.  The  membership  had 
grown  to  five  hundred  and  thirty,  and  contained  many 
men  of  substantial  importance  and  a  number  of  rising 
young  men  of  no  small  reserve  power  and  promise.  The 
general  community,  distrustful  and  suspicious  in  the 
early  years,  had  come  to  know  more  of  these  Baptists 
and  their  principles,  and  to  perceive  that  they  were  foes 
neither  to  evangelical  religion  nor  to  New  England  cul- 
ture. Dr.  Hawes,  pastor  of  the  venerable  Center  Con- 
gregational Church,  came  to  Mr.  Dimock,  then  a  young 
man  of  forty-four,  and  courteously  offered  to  extend  the 
hand  of  fellowship  to  the  new  pastor  on  the  occasion  of 
his  public  recognition.  Hartford  had  grown  into  a  city 
of  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  and  many  of  its  pulpits 
were  well  manned.  Dr.  Bushnell  was  pastor  of  the  old 
North  Congregational  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Morgan  Streets,  a  stone's  throw  farther  north  than 
the  site  of  our  present  house  of  worship.  He  was  only 
seven  years  the  senior  of  Dr.  Turnbull,  and  became  his 
friend  as  well  as  his  neighbor.  The  two  men  were  not 
unlike,  and  they  were  unlike.  Both  preached  through 
the  pen  to  a  large  extra-parish  congregation.  The 
speech  of  both  shone  with  the  sparkle  of  gem  and 
poetry.  Both  were  prophets  who  spoke  forth  what 
insight  or  intuition  breathed  into  their  souls.  Neither 
loved  immoderately,  nor  in  its  largest  sense,  the  slow 
and  accurate  processes  of  pure  logical  investigation. 
Bushnell  had  a  larger  and  more  brilliant  sweep ;  Turn- 
bull  had  more  rugged  reverence.  The  former  had  more 
readers ;  the  latter  had  more  hearers.  The  insight  and 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  207 

the  intensity  of  the  one  sometimes  led  him  away  from 
the  moorings ;  that  of  the  other  drew  him  to  evangelical 
truth  as  steel  to  the  loadstone  and  held  him  safely  fast. 
Bushnell  dared  to  sail  out  on  broad  and  bold  excursions 
into  unfathomed  seas.  Turnbull  was  himself  anchored 
to  the  everlasting"  gospel,  and  helped  to  anchor  other 
men.  The  religious  life  of  each  was  simple,  profound 
and  beautiful,  and  lent  its  charm  to  hide  whatever  foibles 
there  were,  and  to  throw  a  halo  about  the  graces  and  the 
virtues  of  both. 

The  gains  in  church  membership  throughout  Dr. 
Turnbull's  pastorate  continued  large  and  steady ;  and  so 
by  emigration  to  the  new  west  did  the  losses.  In  each 
of  three  years  the  accessions  ran  beyond  one  hundred. 
In  1853  one  hundred  and  thirty  new  members  were  re- 
ceived; in  1858,  one  hundred  and  twenty-three;  and  in 
1865,  one  hundred  and  eleven.  This  last  year  the  mem- 
bership of  the  church  footed  up  seven  hundred  and 
forty- five. 

April  23d,  1853,  the  South  Baptist  Church  dedicated 
their  present  elegant  house  of  worship.  The  First 
Church  felt  that  the  time  had  come  likewise  for  them 
to  secure  a  church  edifice  fully  up  to  the  new  require- 
ments. December  6th,  1853,  a  committee  appointed 
previously,  of  which  Edwin  Merritt  was  chairman,  re- 
ported recommending  the  purchase  of  the  present  site, 
consisting  of  two  lots,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Talcott 
Streets,  for  the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  The  church  and  society  unanimously  voted  to 
authorize  the  deacons  to  buy  the  lots,  provided  "twenty- 
five  thousand  dollars  or  some  other  satisfactory  sum," 


208  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

should  be  first  subscribed.  With  profound  faith  in  suc- 
cess, a  committee  was  appointed  both  to  secure  the 
desired  subscriptions,  and  to  procure  plans  for  the  new 
edifice.  This  committee  was  composed  of  the  following- 
seven  gentlemen  :  James  G.  Batterson,  James  L.  Howard, 
George  Sexton,  Joseph  S.  Curtis,  Edwin  Merritt,  Ed- 
ward Bolles,  and  Willis  S.  Bronson.  No  time  was  lost 
in  getting  matters  under  way.  A  little  story  told  by 
the  Rev.  Gurdon  Robins  to  Mr.  Howard  suggested  the 
fitting  motto  which  headed  the  subscription  list.  A  dear 
and  aged' saint  had  written  a  subscription  as  follows: 
"  For  the  love  I  bear  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  redeemed  my 
soul  from  death,  I  hereby  promise  to  give,"  etc.  The 
story  brought  tears  to  many  an  eye.  Noble  responses 
rapidly  swelled  the  building  fund.  Three  times  the 
ground  was  mowed  over  before  the  work  was  completed. 
Some  gave  a  full  third  of  all  they  were  worth  in  the 
world.  Said  one  brother  as,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
solicitor,  he  wrote  down  his  first  subscription  of  a  thous- 
and dollars,  and  he  followed  it  with  two  others  just  like 
it,  "I  am  worth  more  money  than  you  think  I  am." 
By  February  6th,  1854,  the  plans  were  ready  for  sub- 
mission, and  were  finally  adopted,  after  modification, 
March  3Oth.  The  architect  was  Mr.  W.  Russell  West,  of 
Philadelphia,  a  relative,  it  is  said,  of  the  celebrated  artist, 
Benjamin  West.  April  i3th  the  following  gentlemen 
were  appointed  a  building  committee :  James  G.  Batter- 
son,  chairman,  Gustavus  F.  Davis,  treasurer,  with  James 
L.  Howard,  Joseph  B.  Gilbert,  Willis  S.  Bronson,  Joseph 
S.  French,  Joseph  S.  Curtis,  Joseph  W.  Dimock,  Edward 
Bolles,  Edwin  Merritt,  Carlos  Glazier,  Henry  E.  Robins, 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  209 

George  Sexton,  R.  M.  Burdick,  H.  C.  Spalding,  George 
Hastings,  T.  W.  Wolcott,  William  G.  Allen,  Isaac  Hay- 
den,  and  Wareham  Griswold.  This  committee  was 
authorized  to  erect  and  complete  the  building  according 
to  the  plans  adopted.  Two  days  later  the  deacons,  who 
by  the  charter  are  the  corporation,  authorized  the  pur- 
chase of  the  lots  for  the  price  named,  and  in  addition  the 
use  for  her  natural  life,  by  Miss  Talcott,  the  owner  of 
the  larger  and  corner  lot,  "of  a  slip  in  the  house  of 
worship  to  be  erected,"  with  the  proviso  that  "the  said 
slip  was  not  to  be  sold  or  leased  by  her  to  others."  The 
contract  was  let  .to  Messrs.  Spaulding  and  Coy  for 
$43,130,  and  work  proceeded.  December  i8th,  1854, 
the  church  authorized  the  sale  of  the  former  edifice 
for  $18,000.  In  the  spring  of  1855  the  contrac- 
tors having  made  an  assignment,  the  completion  of  the 
house  was  carried  on  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  building  committee.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1856  the 
house  was  completed,  furnished  and  paid  for  and  ready 
for  dedication.  That  is  to  say,  the  house  and  furnishing 
were  paid  for;  but  the  lot  was  owned  with  a  mortgage 
attached  for  some  little  time  afterwards.  It  was  com- 
pleted, except  the  spire,  which  was  left  to  await  the  un- 
foldings  of  a  later  day.  It  is  waiting  still.  So  well  was 
the  work  planned  and  so  carefully  executed  that  not  a 
crack  appeared  in  the  walls  from  settling,  and  no  work- 
man was  injured  in  the  course  of  construction.  The 
upholstering  was  done  by  the  ladies.  The  total  cost  of 
the  building,  including  the  lot,  was  $75,000.  Thirty 
thousand  dollars  of  this  sum  were  paid  by  twelve  men ; 
and  of  this  thirty  thousand,  twenty-one  thousand  by  six 


210  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

The  new  house  was  dedicated  with  thanksgiving  April 
23d,  1856,  three  years  to  the  day  after  the  dedication  of 
the  South  Baptist  Church.  Dr.  George  B.  Ide,  of 
Springfield,  preached  in  the  afternoon  a  memorable  ser- 
mon from  Psalm  Ixv.  4 :  "  We  shall  be  satisfied  with  the 
goodness  of  thy  house,  even  of  thy  holy  temple."  Dr. 
Hawes  of  the  Center  Church  was  present,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  exercises.  Dr.  Turnbull  delivered  a  valu- 
able historical  sermon  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day. 
The  auditorium  was  crowded  of  course  on  both  occasions. 
The  following  Sunday  Dr.  Turnbull  baptized  twelve 
candidates  in  the  new  baptistery.  At  the  dedication  of 
the  second  house  of  worship,  twenty-five  years  before, 
Dr.  Davis  had  likewise  baptized  twelve.  Dr.  Murdock, 
then  pastor  of  the  South  Baptist  Church,  preached  in  the 
new  house  the  afternoon  of  the  first  Sunday.  The 
first  sale  of  seats  realized  a  total  of  three  thousand  six 
hundred  dollars.  The  church  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
the  building  committee  for  the  wonderfully  successful 
prosecution  of  their  work.  A  noteworthy  fact  was  the 
uniform  harmony  in  the  church  throughout  the  building 
period.  The  spiritual  life  too  was  maintained.  Conver- 
sions occurred  not  infrequently,  and  one  hundred  and 
ten  new  members  were  added. 

The  first  meeting-house  was  erected  about  1798.  It 
was  a  wooden  structure,  sixty  feet  by  forty,  with  tower  and 
bell,  and  a  seating  capacity  of  some  five  hundred.  The 
second  house  was  of  brick,  eighty-four  feet  by  sixty,  and 
was  erected  in  1830-1,  having  a  seating  capacity  of  about 
eight  hundred.  The  present  edifice  is  of  dressed  Port- 
land brown  stone,  and  has  an  extreme  outside  length, 


BASEMENT. 


SECOND    FLOOR. 


FIRST    FLOOR. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  211 

east  and  west,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  feet.  The 
lot  on  which  it  is  erected  is  diagonal,  and  both  taxed  the 
ingenuity  and  brought  out  the  genius  of  the  architect. 
The  building  is  really  in  two  parts,  the  front  containing 
the  tower,  the  vestibule,  the  vestry  adjoining,  all  on  the 
first  floor,  and  the  chapel  on  the  second  floor  over  the 
vestibule  and  the  vestry.  The  frontage  of  this  part  of 
the  building  is  seventy-five  feet,  and  the  depth  forty- 
three.  The  most  unique  feature  of  the  whole  structure 
perhaps  is  the  vestibule,  thirty-seven  feet  deep  and 
thirty-two  feet  long.  Including  the  space  adjoining 
the  stairway,  the  length  is  fifty  feet.  It  is  divided  into  a 
central  passage  and  aisles  by  twin  columns  of  Caen  stone 
having  richly  carved  capitals.  A  broad  stairway  leads 
from  the  south  to  the  chapel  above.  This  spacious  vesti- 
bule is  in  itself  a  welcome  to  every  stranger  and  a  con- 
stant invitation  to  cordial  social  relations  between  the 
worshippers.  The  crooked  lot  suggested  to  Mr.  Batter- 
son  this  broad  entrance,  and  was  by  him  suggested  to 
the  architect.  The  vestry  adjoining  the  vestibule  on  the 
north  has  an  inside  measurement  of  thirty-seven  feet  by 
twenty.  The  chapel  above,  measures  inside  thirty-seven 
feet  by  fifty-six.  The  ceiling  is  twenty-seven  feet  high. 
Adjoining  the  chapel,  and  within  the  tower,  is  the 
library.  The  seating  capacity  of  the  chapel  is  three 
hundred  and  fifty.  The  second  part  of  the  building 
contains  the  auditorium.  The  north  wall  of  the  audi- 
torium, on  account  of  the  diagonal  shape  of  the  lot,  is 
thirty-six  feet  south  of  the  north  wall  of  the  front  por- 
tion of  the  edifice.  The  south  wall  is  likewise  thirteen 
feet  south  of  the  front  south  wall.  This  gives  an  extreme 


212  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

outside  width  of  the  auditorium  at  its  front  of  fifty-two 
feet.  The  room  is  slightly  cruciform.  The  outside 
width  of  the  arm  of  the  cross  is  sixty-eight  feet.  The 
extreme  inside  measurements  of  the  auditorium  are  one 
hundred  and  seven  feet  by  sixty-three.  The  narrowest 
width  is  forty-six  feet.  The  extreme  inside  height  is 
forty-five  feet.  The  actual  seating  capacity  is  eleven 
hundred.  The  room  is  divided  into  body  and  aisles  by 
fourteen  columns,  with  carved  capitals  from  which  spring 
semi-circular  arches,  supporting  a  clere-story  lighted  by 
twenty- four  circular  windows.  Moulded  ribs  divide  the 
arched  ceiling  into  compartments.  In  the  center  of  each 
severy,  at  the  intersection  of  the  ribs,  is  a  foliage  boss, 
perforated  for  ventilation.  The  front  of  the  galleries, 
on  either  side,  is  panelled  and  kept  back  from  the  pillars, 
leaving  the  vertical  line  of  the  columns  unbroken,  so  as 
not  to  mar  their  unity  and  effect.  The  organ  gallery  is 
at  the  west  end  of  the  auditorium.  The  pulpit  platform 
at  the  east  contains  the  baptistery,  with  oak  screens 
to  hide  approach  and  exit.  The  desk  and  sofa  are  on  an 
elevation  above  the  platform,  and,  with  the  chairs,  are 
of  richly  carved  oak.  A  small  lectern,  for  use  during 
the  delivery  of  the  sermon,  stands  in  front  on  the  broad 
lower  platform.  The  style  of  architecture  is  Roman- 
esque, and  the  mediaeval  type  is  throughout  rigidly  main- 
tained. The  church  was  entirely  finished  except  the 
tower.  When  completed,  the  building  will  present  an 
appearance  surpassed  by  none  in  the  city.  As  it  is,  it 
shows  a  massive  and  beautiful  church  edifice,  having 
probably  the  largest  actual  seating  capacity  in  Hartford, 
and  the  unfinished  tower,  resting  on  its  literal  foundation 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  218 

of  rock,  silently,  patiently  waiting  for  a  summons  to  go 
tip  higher. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  organizations  connected  with 
the  church  has  always  been  the  Sunday-school.  It  was 
organized  in  1818,  with  Dea.  Joseph  B.  Gilbert  as  its  first 
superintendent.  During  Dr.  Turnbull's  pastorate  the 
school  took  great  strides  forward  under  the  superintend- 
ency  of  Bro.  Willis  S.  Bronson.  Mr.  Bronson  continued 
to  be  superintendent  for  twenty-seven  years,  resigning 
December,  1884.  The  great  mass  of  recruits  to  the 
church  came  from  the  school.  To  the  faithful  instruc- 
tions there  received,  and  the  earnest  personal  labors  of 
those  who  carried  the  souls  of  their  pupils  as  burdens  on 
their  own  hearts,  is  to  be  ascribed  very  largely  the 
numerous  conversions  with  which  God  has  continued  to 
bless  us  throughout  the  years  of  our  history. 

In  the  war  between  the  states  from  1861  to  1865,  the 
church  took  a  most  loyal  attitude.  Many  of  her  brave 
boys  enlisted  in  the  army,  and  of  these  no  small  number 
laid  down  their  lives  in  the  battle-field  or  in  the  hospital. 
Each  annual  letter  from  the  church  to  the  association 
during  these  troublous  years  expressed  loyal  and  fervent 
hopes  for  the  preservation  of  the  union  and  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  cause  of  liberty.  The  records  recall  more 
than  one  case  of  labor  or  discipline  with  some  brother 
who  took  offence  at  the  straightforward  loyal  course  of 
Dr.  Turnbull  in  his  pulpit  ministrations.  The  offending 
brother  always  recognized  sooner  or  later  the  wrong  he 
had  committed,  and  was  warmly  and  lovingly  forgiven. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Fowler,  the  last  survivor  of  the  sixteen 
constituent  members,  died  May  isth,  1862,  at  the  good 


214  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

age  of  ninety-eight,  after  having  been  a  member  of  the 
church  without  interruption  for  seventy-two  years.  Dr. 
Turnbull  resigned  his  pastorate  in  the  spring  of  1869, 
retiring  April  4th.  The  church  presented  him  with 
a  substantial  token  of  their  affection  in  the  shape  of  a 
purse  containing  several  thousand  dollars.  Nine  hun- 
dred and  fifty-eight  new  members  were  brought  into  the 
church  during  his  ministry  of  twenty-four  years.  When 
his  pastorate  closed,  the  church  roll  contained  seven 
hundred  names. 

After  his  resignation,  Dr.  Turnbull  preached  for  a 
while  in  New  Haven,  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Cal- 
vary Baptist  Church  there.  In  1873  he  became  Superin- 
tendent of  Missions  for  the  State  Convention,  and  con- 
tinued in  omce  until  his  death.  He  used  to  quote  the 
familiar  passage  of  Paul :  <  *  Beside  these  things  that  are 
without,  that  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,  the  care  of 
all  the  churches."  He  was  so  widely  useful  that  his 
brethren,  by  common  consent,  called  him  the  Bishop  of 
Connecticut. 

Dr.  Turnbull  was  born  in  Scotland,  September  loth, 
1809.  He  was  graduated  at  Glasgow  University, 
and  attended  the  theological  lectures  of  Chalmers  in 
Edinburgh.  He  was  of  Presbyterian  parentage,  and 
became  a  Baptist  while  studying  for  the  ministry,  as  a 
result  of  his  own  independent  investigation  and  convic- 
tions. Among  his  published  works  are  the  following : 
"The  Genius  of  Scotland,"  "The  Genius  of  Italy," 
"  Olympia  Morata,"  "  Claims  of  Jesus,"  "  Theophany 
of  God  in  Christ,"  a  review  of  Dr.  Bushnell's  "  God  in 
Christ;"  "The  Pulpit  Orators  of  France  and  Switzer- 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  215 

land,"  "The  Student  Preacher,"  "  The  World  We  Live 
In,"  "  The  Christ  in  History,"  and  "  Life  Pictures  from 
a  Pastor's  Note-Book."  For  two  years  he  was  one  of  the 
editors  of  The  Christian  Review.  He  died  at  Hartford 
November  2oth,  1877,  and  was  buried  at  Spring  Grove 
Cemetery.  His  funeral  occurred  in  the  church.  The 
people  who  came  to  pay  their  respects  to  his  memory 
filled  the  great  auditorium.  As  the  crowds  tenderly 
passed  his  body  lying  in  the  vestibule  the  spectacle  was 
truly  impressive.  Said  Dr.  Lathrop  to  a  member  of  the 
church  who  still  lives,  as  both  stood  witnessing  the  con- 
course, "What  a  tribute  to  character.  It  isn't  his 
money.  He  is  not  the  pastor  of  the  church  now.  But 
just  see  the  tears  they  are  dropping  as  they  go  by."  And 
very  impressively  he  added,  "  All  that  a  man  has  is  his 
character."  A  few  years  ago  a  massive  granite  monu- 
ment was  erected  over  his  grave  by  those  who  had  sat 
under  his  Hartford  ministry.  Mr.  Silas  Chapman,  Jr., 
superintended  the  collection  of  the  funds  and  the  erection 
of  the  monument. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE    REV.    ADONIRAM   JUDSON   SAGE,    D.  D. 

There  was  an  interim  of  nearly  three  years  after  the 
resignation  of  Dr.  Turnbull.  March  29th,  1871,  the 
church  suffered  a  grave  loss  in  the  death  of  Dea.  James 
G.  Bolles.  He  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Eaton,  January  24, 
1841,  and  had  served  the  church  as  deacon  for  twenty- 
six  years.  He  was  a  man  of  really  wide  culture,  a  wise 
adviser,  a  devoted  Christian  and  liberal  supporter  of  the 
good  cause.  In  his  will  he  directed  that  the  church 
should  receive  ten  thousand  dollars  from  his  estate. 


216  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

April  7th  of  the  same  year  the  church  very  cordially 
invited  Mrs.  H.  H.  A.  Eaton,  the  widow  of  a  lamented 
former  pastor,  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Eaton,  to  become  Pastoral 
Assistant.  Mrs.  Eaton  accepted  the  appointment,  and 
retained  it  until  May  igih,  1879.  During  these  eight 
years  of  invaluable  labor  she  visited  the  sick,  the  poor 
and  the  young,  bringing  to  them  all  the  tenderest  sym- 
pathies of  a  loving  woman's  heart,  and  the  efficient 
ministrations  of  a  hand  skilled  to  help.  She  was  brought 
into  contact  with  the  deserving  poor,  and  through  her, 
the  church  was  enabled  to  dispense  its  bounty  in  a  way 
to  give  needed  aid  without  discouraging  self-help.  She 
could  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  pastor  such  special 
cases  as  might  afford  him  opportunity  for  special  min- 
istration. And  all,  those  helped  and  those  who  through 
her  bestowed  help,  the  people  and  the  pastor,  learned  to 
love  and  highly  prize  her  faithful  assistance.  Mrs. 
Eaton  died  June  loth,  1885,  sincerely  mourned  by  a 
wide  circle  of  friends,  many  of  whom  she  first  met  when 
as  a  pastor's  bride  she  came  to  Hartford  forty-six  years 
before,  and  with  whom  afterwards  as  Pastor's  Assistant 
she  renewed  acquaintance  in  most  sacred  relations. 

July  i Qth,  1871,  the  church  extended  a  pastoral  call 
to  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Sage,  then  Professor  of  Latin  in 
the  University  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.  Early  in  the  interim 
negotiations  were  had  with  the  pastorate  in  view, 
but  at  that  time  Dr.  Sage  felt  drawn  otherwise.  These 
negotiations  reopening,  resulted  in  the  call,  which  was 
accepted.  This,  the  tenth  pastorate  of  the  church,  began 
January  ist,  1872.  Dr.  Sage  entered  upon  his  labors 
like  Dr.  Turnbull  before  him,  in  the  prime  of  his  powers 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  217 

and  in  the  same  year  of  his  age.  The  church  was  firmly 
established  in  the  city,  and  had  grown  to  importance  in 
the  denomination  as  well.  Dr.  Sage  was  a  man  among 
the  best  of  men.  Everything  about  him  was  sterling 
and  finished.  Dr.  Crane,  his  friend  and  neighbor  as 
pastor  of  the  South  Church,  says  of  him :  '  <  His  preaching 
was  uniformly  of  a  high  order.  He  had  the  genius  of 
taking  pains.  He  was  a  student,  and  his  sermons  were 
always  studied.  With  labor  he  joined  native  good 
taste,  a  subtle  humor,  and  a  good  degree  of  originality. 
On  the  whole,  I  never  heard  him  preach  a  sermon  which 
I  would  not  call  one  of  marked  excellence.  There  was 
no  slap-dash  about  him.  He  never  extemporized.  His 
thought  and  language  smelled  of  the  lamp.  As  he  loved 
choice  books,  so  he  loved  choice  men.  On  this  account, 
he  had  no  message  for  shallow  or  noisy  or  bumptious 
people.  In  an  atmosphere  of  coarseness  he  folded  his 
petals."  Says  an  intelligent  and  thoughtful  leader  in 
the  church :  "In  all  his  pastorate  I  never  heard  him 
preach  a  single  hasty  or  ill-prepared  sermon.  He  always 
gave  us  something."  And  so  the  people  speak  not  only 
of  his  preaching  but  of  individual  sermons  which  left  on 
their  hearts  an  impression  that  seemed  to  be  graven  or 
rather  woven  into  the  fibre  of  their  being.  When  Dr.  Sage 
came  to  Hartford,  the  theological  thinking  was  in  some 
measure  broad  and  free,  if  nothing  more.  But  he  stood 
forth  in  the  city  as  an  advocate  for  evangelical  truth, 
who  commanded  attention  from  the  representatives  of 
all  shades  of  speculation.  He  had  communed  with  the 
truth,  and  was  grounded  in  it.  And  this  church,  while 
maintaining  sympathy  with  whatever  was  really  the 
15 


218  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

larger  thinking  of  the  times,  was  safely  protected  from 
the  shadowy  fancies  of  any  new  theology.  Dr.  Sage  was 
a  man,  the  key-note  of  whose  power  was  far  apart  from 
Dr.  Turnbull's.  Dr.  Turnbull  rose  sometimes  on  eagle 
wings.  He  was  first  a  poet,  reverent  and  evangelical 
indeed;  and  afterwards  a  theologian.  Dr.  Sage  was 
first  a  student.  His  methods  were  the  student's  methods. 
When  he  spoke  he  limited  his  speech  by  the  necessities 
of  truth  carefully  examined  and  compared  with  the 
things  that  are  written.  He  had  the  logical  instinct. 
His  building  was  on  rock  that  stands  against  storm  and 
tide.  Dr.  Turnbull  spoke  truth  as  it  inspired  him.  Dr. 
Sage  spoke  truth  as  one  who  had  first  turned  it  all  over 
and  tested  it  and  therefore  could  give  orderly  reason  for 
the  things  he  believed. 

Early  in  Dr.  Sage's  pastorate  commodious  rooms  for 
social  gatherings,  parlor,  committee  rooms  and  kitchen, 
were  constructed  in  the  basement  of  the  house  of  wor- 
ship, at  a  cost  of  about  three  thousand  dollars.  In  this 
new  feature  the  new  pastor  saw  substantial  opportunity 
for  developing  the  social  relations  of  the  members.  A 
new  importance,  moreover,  was  given  to  the  younger 
members  in  the  work  of  the  church.  And  long  before 
the  great  "  Christian  Endeavor"  movement  began  there 
was  here  a  full  grown  and  thoroughly  efficient  Young 
People's  Association,  embodying  almost  every  idea  in 
the  larger  movement  which  has  more  recently  become 
national.  The  new  impetus  given,  and  the  new  place 
found  for  the  young  people,  resulted  of  course  in  largely 
increased  attendance  both  in  prayer-meetings  and  the 
preaching  services  of  the  church. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  219 

In  1872  preaching  was  begun  in  East  Hartford. 
Neighborhood  meetings  also  were  held  here,  as  they  had 
been  previously  held  in  other  portions  of  the  city  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river.  Quite  a  colony  of  valuable 
recruits  grew  up  in  East  Hartford,  the  result  of  this 
and  other  movements  under  the  care  of  the  church. 

September  28th,  1871,  fifty-two  persons  were  dismissed 
to  organize  the  Windsor  Avenue  Church.  Among  these 
was  Mr.  H.  H.  Barbour,  the  leader  of  the  movement, 
whose  enthusiam  and  magnetism  had  secured  a  prosper- 
ous beginning  of  what  was  really  an  important  depart- 
ure. A  chapel  had  been  built  on  Suffield  Street, 
the  lot  fronting  on  Windsor  Avenue,  now  North  Main 
Street.  The  new  interest  prospered  for  a  time.  But 
losses  by  death  of  valuable  members,  among  them  Mr. 
Barbour  himself,  and  other  considerations,  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  organization  after  a  seven  years' 
experiment.  November  isth,  1879,  the  First  Church 
voted  to  purchase  the  property  for  five  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars.  December  4th,  fifty-seven  members, 
followed  later  by  others,  came  back  with  their  letters  to 
the  mother  church.  Since  that  time  the  field  has  been  a 
mission  of  the  First  Church.  A  prosperous  Sunday- 
school  has  been  maintained,  with  prayer-meeting  on 
Friday  evenings. 

November  ist,  1872,  letters  were  given  to  fifty-six 
members  of  the  church  to  unite  with  others  in  organizing 
the  Asylum  Avenue  Church,  a  new  movement  on  the 
"  Hill,"  in  the  populous  and  growing  west  side  of  the 
city,  a  paradise  of  residences.  This  colony  was  more 
fortunate  than  the  Windsor  Avenue  interest,  and  has 


220  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

since  grown  to  a  prosperous  church  of  importance,  with 
large  and  flattering  promise.  For  nearly  twelve  years  it 
has  enjoyed  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  George  M. 
Stone,  D.  D.,  a  man  rare  in  spirit,  of  careful  scholarship, 
wise  leadership,  and  noble  pulpit  ministrations. 

The  chapel  of  the  church  was  renovated  in  1873,  under 
the  care,  almost  at  the  hands  of  the  ladies  of  the  church. 

In  1874  the  church  adopted  "The  Service  Song"  for 
public  worship,  and  has  continued  to  use  it  through  the 
sixteen  years  which  have  since  elapsed. 

Although  the  church  suffered  heavy  losses  by  emigra- 
tion to  the  new  interests  at  home,  and  removals  from  the 
city,  the  accessions  continued  in  a  very  gratifying  and 
regular  way.  Twice  there  was  outside  assistance  in  con- 
ducting special  meetings.  In  1878  Messrs.  Moody  and 
Sankey,  followed  by  Messrs.  Pentecost  and  Stebbins, 
held  a  three  months'  evangelistic  campaign,  in  which 
the  several  churches  of  Hartford  united.  Seventy- three 
were  baptized  into  the  fellowship  of  our  church  chiefly 
as  a  result  of  this  work.  In  the  winter  of  1883-4  the 
Rev.  H.  P.  Smith  assisted  the  pastor  in  a  series  of 
special  meetings,  resulting  in  the  baptism  of  some  thirty- 
two.  While  the  number  of  additions  was  less  than  in 
1878,  the  losses  likewise  were  less  from  wayside  hearers 
and  others  in  whom  the  good  seed  seemed  not  to  take 
deep  root. 

The  parsonage,  a  neat,  commodious  and  convenient 
residence,  centrally  located  at  No.  102  Ann  Street,  was 
purchased  by  the  church  April  3Oth,  1873,  at  a  cost  of 
sixteen  thousand  dollars.  Ten  thousand  dollars  of  this 
amount  were  the  contribution  of  two  honored  members 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  221 

of  the  church,   Messrs.  James  L.   Howard  and  James  G. 
Batterson. 

For  three  successive  years  during  his  pastorate  here, 
Dr.  Sage  was  elected  chaplain  of  the  lower  house  of 
the  State  Legislature.  In  1874  he  delivered  the 
annual  sermon  before  the  Christian  Association  of  the 
University  of  Rochester.  The  sermon  was  well 
received  and  published.  The  topic  was  ''The  Mis- 
guiding Influence  of  Pure  Intellectualism  apart  from 
the  Moral  Sense,  as  Seen  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Age." 
He  was  invited  to  deliver,  at  the  next  commencement, 
the  annual  address  before  the  Alumni  Association  on 
"Arnold  of  Brescia  and  Liberty."  This  address  was 
also  published.  So,  too,  was  Dr.  Sage's  address  at 
Saratoga  before  the  American  Baptist  Publication  Society 
on  the  theme,  "The  Training  Needed  by  the  Baptist 
Denomination."  He  was  invited  to  address  the  Social 
Union  at  Boston,  and  also  the  Manhattan  Social  Union 
of  New  York.  Before  the  former  he  spoke  on  "The 
Causes  of  the  Decline  in  the  Supply  of  Candidates  for 
the  Ministry;"  before  the  latter  on  "The  Future  of 
Religion  in  the  West."  He  was  President  of  the 
Connecticut  State  Convention,  and  for  thirteen  years,  as 
"  Silex,"  the  regular  correspondent  of  "The  Examiner" 
of  New  York.  Once  or  twice  Dr.  Sage  listened  to  the 
pleadings  of  the  muse.  ' '  The  Violin,"  a  poem  of  forty- 
five  stanzas,  appeared  in  "The  Continent,"  was  widely 
copied,  and  finally  received  a  place  in  Stedman's 
"Library  of  American  Literature."  At  the  death  of 
President  Garfield  he  wrote  a  hymn,  which  was  sung  at 
several  memorial  services,  and  was  very  well  received. 


222  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

In  1884  he  also  wrote  the  following  "  Easter  Hymn"  : — 

Jesus,  each  drop  of  precious  blood 

Reveals  thy  wondrous  grace  ; 
We  weep  to  see  thy  drooping  head, 

Thy  sorrow-stricken  face. 
O  Calvary  !  O  Lamb  of  God  ! 

What  mystery  of  grief  ! 
Blest  fountain  of  atoning  blood, 

The  guilty  soul's  relief  ! 

In  death  thou'rt  mightier  than  the  tomb, 

Thou'rt  conqueror  o'er  the  grave  ; 
From  out  the  heart  of  deepest  gloom 

Thou  comest  with  power  to  save  ; 
And  saints  and  angels  clothed  in  white, 

Above  all  cloud  and  storm, 
The  new  creation's  holy  light 

Shines  in  thy  glorious  form. 

O  Jesus,  risen  and  glorified, 

Made  captive  by  thy  love, 
Our  hearts  with  thee  are  crucified, 

With  thee  to  reign  above  ; 
O,  may  thy  life  within  us  live, 

Thy  light  within  us  shine, 
The  Spirit  to  our  spirits  give 

The  life  of  love  divine. 

Accepting  a  call  to  a  Professorship  in  the  Union  Baptist 
Theological  Seminary  at  Morgan  Park,  Dr.  Sage  retired 
from  the  pastorate  of  the  church  September  ist,  1884. 

He  was  born  in  Massillon,  Ohio,  March  2pth,  1836,  and 
converted  at  fourteen  years  of  age,  under  the  preaching  of 
President  E.  G.  Robinson,  then  pastor  of  the  Ninth  Street 
Baptist  Church,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  Dr.  Robinson  bap- 
tized him  in  the  spring  of  1851.  He  was  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Rochester  in  1 860,  and  from  the 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH,  223 

Rochester  Theological  Seminary  three  years  later.  He 
ministered  to  the  churches  at  Shelburne  Falls,  Massa- 
chusetts, where  he  was  ordained  September,  1 863  ;  Strong 
Place,  Brooklyn ;  the  Fourth  Church,  Philadelphia ;  and 
Pierpont  Street,  Brooklyn.  He  received  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Rochester  in  1872.  Five 
hundred  and  thirty-three  members  were  brought  into  the 
church  here  during  his  pastorate.  He  retired  with  the 
respect  and  the  affection  and  regret  of  all  the  church  and 
society. 

PASTORATE  OF  THE  REV.  LESTER  LEWIS  POTTER. 

With  little  delay,  the  pulpit  committee  united  in 
recommending  to  the  church  the  young  pastor  of  the 
First  Baptist  Church  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  the 
Rev.  L.'  L.  Potter.  February  i2th,  1885,  the  church 
extended  to  Mr.  Potter  a  very  hearty  and  unanimous 
call  to  the  pastorate.  The  call  was  accepted,  and  Mr. 
Potter  began  his  labors  May  ist.  He  was  born  at  Cole- 
brook,  Connecticut,  March  soth,  1858,  and  received  his 
education  at  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institution  in  Suf- 
field,  and  at  the  University  of  Rochester,  New  York. 
He  was  baptized  at  the  early  age  of  ten,  and  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Baptist  Church  at  Willington  when  he  was 
sixteen  years  old.  His  honored  father,  the  Rev.  C.  W. 
Potter,  has  been  an  active  and  useful  pastor  in  our  de- 
nomination for  years. 

Mr.  Potter  found  the  church  ready  to  welcome  him 
with  no  little  enthusiasm.  There  was  pronounced  ad- 
vance of  interest  both  in  the  Sunday  congregations  and 
at  the  social  meetings.  The  young  pastor  had  remark- 


224  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

able  social  qualities  and  a  graceful  and  happy  way  of 
presenting  his  pulpit  ministrations,  clothed  in  pictures  of 
words,  that  both  engaged  attention  and  gave  delight. 

In  less  than  six  weeks  after  Mr.  Potter's  settlement 
the  church  was  called  to  lose  by  death  the  beloved  Mrs. 
Eaton.  In  the  associational  letter  special  mention  is 
made  of  her  death,  which  occurred  June  loth,  1885. 

Early  in  his  pastorate,  the  entrance- way  through  the 
tower  to  the  vestibule,  which  seemed  to  be  especially 
adapted  to  the  new  purpose,  was,  at  Mr.  Potter's  sugges- 
tion, re-arranged  for  a  pastor's  study  and  very  neatly 
furnished  accordingly. 

April,  29th,  1886,  was  the  seventieth  anniversary  of  the 
baptism  of  a  venerable  and  respected  brother,  Joseph  W. 
Dimock.  In  the  evening  of  the  day  a  reception  was 
tendered  Brother  Dimock  at  the  church.  Many  friends 
paid  their  respects  to  him,  and  informal  addresses  and 
reminiscences  were  offered  by  Brethren  Davis,  Howard, 
Smith,  Dr.  Stone,  Mr.  Potter,  and  by  Brother  Dimock 
himself.  A  pretty  feature  of  the  pleasant  occasion  was 
the  presentation  by  Brother  Dimock,  through  the  pastor, 
of  a  purse  containing  seventy  dollars  in  gold,  a  dollar 
for  each  year  of  his  connection  with  the  church,  to  be 
used  for  the  poor  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Potter  resigned  December  i Qth,  1887,  and  closed 
his  labors  December  3ist.  The  same  harmony  through- 
out the  church  which  marked  his  coming  continued  to 
the  end  of  his  pastorate.  Eighty-three  persons  had  been 
welcomed  into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  in  his  two 
years  and  eight  months  of  service. 

The  interim  of  one  year  and  eleven  months  following 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH.  225 

the  close  of  Mr.  Potter's  pastorate  seemed  to  develop  the 
hearty  loyalty  to  the  church  which  has  been  a  feature  of 
its  history  from  the  first.  The  Sunday  evening  meetings 
of  the  young  people  were  particularly  well  maintained. 
The  pulpit  was  supplied  by  some  of  the  very  best 
preachers  in  the  denomination ;  for  a  long  time  without 
any  special  desire  to  effect  a  pastoral  settlement.  Several 
were  baptized  at  the  hands  of  a  respected  fellow-member, 
the  Rev.  Albert  Guy,  who  in  the  evening  of  his  life  has 
retired  from  a  long  and  useful  service  in  the  pulpit,  and 
found  a  welcome  home  in  the  venerable  First  Church. 

THE    PRESENT   PASTORATE 

began  November  2 Qth,  1889.  Accepting  a  call  extended 
October  24th,  the  twelfth  pastor  found  the  same  loving 
reception  the  church  has  always  given  to  those  whom  it 
has  called  to  leadership.  Up  to  July  3d,  1890,  fifty-two 
new  members  have  been  welcomed  into  the  church. 

Mr.  James  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  July  2oth,  1848. 
He  is  the  son  of  Professor  Charles  S.  James,  Ph.  D., 
who  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  filled  the  chair 
of  Mathematics  in  the  University  at  Lewisburg.  He 
was  baptized  in.  his  sixteenth  year,  graduated  from  the 
University  at  Lewisburg,  Penna.,  now  Bucknell  Univer- 
sity, in  1868,  and  from  Crozer  Theological  Seminary  in 
1871.  After  a  year  of  post-graduate  study  in  Germany, 
he  was  pastor  for  ten  years  at  Allentown,  Pennsylvania, 
and  for  seven  years  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  German- 
town,  Philadelphia. 

Deacon  Luther  C.  Glazier  was  the  efficient  superin- 
tendent of  the  Bible-school  from  1884  to  1890,  when  he 


226  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

was  succeeded  by  Mr.  George  T.  Utley.  Mr.  Charles  E. 
Bayliss  at  the  same  time  was  chosen  secretary  in  place 
of  Mr.  Utley.  The  school  has  August  ist,  1890,  a  total 
enrollment  of  412.  Mr.  H.  M.  Twiss  is  the  active  and 
successful  superintendent  of  the  Suffield  Street  Mission, 
with  a  total  enrollment  of  150.  In  the  library  of  our 
school  there  are  1,157  volumes.  Mr.  Silas  Chapman, 
Jr.,  is  the  librarian.  He  is  assisted  by  a  faithful  corps 
of  young  men.  Mr.  E.  B.  Boynton  is  at  present  the 
presiding  officer  of  the  Young  People's  Association. 
The  prayer-meeting  of  the  association  is  held  at  half- 
past  six  each  Sunday  evening,  and  is  conducted  with 
both  zeal  and  wisdom. 

It  may  be  properly  recorded  here  that  some  of  the 
young  people  of  the  church  secured  ten  dollars  in  sub- 
scriptions of  one  dime  each,  and  deposited  the  amount  in 
the  "Society  for  Savings,"  to  bear  compound  interest  at 
4  per  cent.  The  deposit  is  made  in  the  name  of  the 
Deacons  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  in  trust,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  available  only  for  the  expenses  attending  the 
celebration  of  the  second  centennial  of  the  church.  Mr. 
Fred  A.  West  and  Miss  Harriet  I.  Eaton,  a  daughter  of 
the  eighth  pastor,  were  the  committee  who  secured  the 
ten  dollars. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES    OF   LICENTIATES 

AND  OTHER 

MINISTERS    FROM   THIS  CHURCH. 

LUCIUS   BOLLES,    D.  D. 

Lucius  Bolles  was  born  in  Ashford,  Conn.,  Sept.  25, 
1779.  He  was  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1 80 1 . 
He  pursued  a  three  years'  course  of  theological  study 
under  Dr.  Stillman.  For  twenty-two  years  from  1805  he 
was  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Salem,  Mass. 
Five  hundred  and  twelve  new  members  were  added  to 
the  church  during  his  ministry.  He  was  instrumental 
in  securing  the  organization  of  the  first  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary Society,  now  the  Missionary  Union.  In  1826  he 
became  its  first  secretary.  This  position  he  held  for 
sixteen  years.  He  died  January  5,  1844. 

DAVID   C.    BOLLES. 

He  was  born  January  14,  1743.  In  October,  1793,  in 
his  fiftieth  year,  he  was  ordained.  In  the  early  history 
of  the  church  he  frequently  supplied  its  pulpit,  and  he 
labored  in  destitute  churches  throughout  the  state.  He 
was  the  father  of  three  Baptist  preachers. 

GURDON   ROBINS. 

He  was  bora  February  6,  1786.  His  father,  Ephraim 
Robins,  was  a  local  preacher.  Mr.  Robins  was  converted 
in  1 798,  and  baptized  by  Mr.  Nelson.  In  1 8 14  he  became 


228  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

a  deacon  in  the  church,  and  early  began  to  preach. 
Mr.  Robins  resided  for  seven  years  from  1816,  in  North 
Carolina,  and  was  actively  identified  with  the  Baptists 
there.  He  assisted  in  reviving  the  North  Carolina 
Baptist  Mission  Convention,  and  was  at  one  time  judge 
of  the  county  court.  He  was  ordained  at  East  Windsor, 
June  17,  1829,  and  was  pastor  at  South  Windsor  for  a 
time,  and  often  supplied  churches  in  different  parts  of 
the  state  after  retiring  from  this  pastorate.  For  five 
years  he  was  editor  of  the  Christian  Secretary.  He  was 
active  in  connection  with  the  State  Mission  and  educa- 
tion work,  had  a  wide  acquaintance  with  the  churches, 
was  a  judicious  counselor  and  a  devout  Christian.  He 
died  January  2,  1864,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year. 

FORONDA   BESTOR 

was  born  May  14,  1807,  in  Enfield,  and  still  lives  in 
New  Hartford.  He  was  baptized  June  loth,  1826,  by 
the  Rev.  C.  P.  Grosvenor,  licensed  to  preach  during  the 
pastorate  of  Dr.  Sears,  and  ordained  at  Seekunk,  R.  I., 
January  23,  1833.  He  was  pastor  there  two  years,  also 
at  North  Stonington  five  years,  Westfield,  Mass.,  three 
years,  Middlefield,  Mass.,  five  years,  Cheshire  six  years, 
North  Egremont  five  years,  and  at  Canton,  Conn.  His 
health  failing,  he  came  back  to  the  mother  church  during 
the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Sage.  He  enjoyed  gracious  revivals 
in  several  of  his  pastorates,  and  was  permitted  to  baptize 
all  of  his  children. 

JAMES    R.    BOISE,    D.  D.,    LL.  D. 

He  was  born  in  Blanford,    Mass.,   January  27,   1815, 
and  was  of  French  Huguenot  extraction.     He  was  bap- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  229 

tized  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  graduated  from  Brown 
University,  in  the  celebrated  class  of  1840.  He  became 
tutor,  and  afterwards  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages 
at  Brown.  In  1850  he  went  to  Europe,  spending  a  year 
in  study  in  Germany  and  six  months  in  Greece  and  Italy. 
In  1852  he  became  Professor  of  Greek  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Michigan.  In  1868  he  accepted  an  invitation  to 
fill  a  similar  chair  in  the  Chicago  University.  In  1877  he 
became  Professor  of  New  Testament  Interpretation  in 
the  Baptist  Union  Theological  Seminary  at  Morgan  Park. 
This  chair  he  still  occupies.  Dr.  Boise  is  the  author  of 
several  important  classical  text-books,  and  of  valuable 
commentaries  on  Paul's  Epistles.  He  is  a  man  whose 
scholarship  and  influence  have  given  a  national  reputa- 
tion. 

STEPHEN   B.    PAGE,    D.  D. 

was  born  in  Fayette,  Maine,  1808.  He  united  with 
this  church  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  the  first  person 
baptized  by  Dr.  Sears.  He  was  graduated  from  Water- 
ville  University  (now  Colby)  in  1835,  and  pursued  theo- 
logical studies  at  Newton  until  1839,  when  he  became 
pastor,  for  six  years,  at  Massillon,  Ohio,  where  Dr.  Sage 
was  born,  the  future  pastor  of  this  church,  then  being 
three  years  old.  He  also  settled  four  years  at  Norwalk, 
Ohio;  seven  years  at  the  Third  Church  in  Cleveland; 
also  at  the  Euclid  Avenue  Church.  He  was  District 
Secretary  for  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  for  Ohio  and  West  Virginia  twelve  years.  He 
collected  over  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  Home  Mis- 
sion work,  another  hundred  thousand  dollars  toward  the 


230  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

endowment  of  Denison  University.  He  died  at  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  March  14,  1888.. 

WILLIAM   HODGE. 

He  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1789.  He  was  persecuted 
for  his  religious  sentiments,  and  moved  to  America  in 
1824,  where  he  united  with  our  church.  He  frequently 
exercised  his  gifts  while  in  this  connection,  and  died  in 
1832. 

J.    L.    HODGE,    D.  D., 

son  of  William  Hodge,  was  born  in  Scotland  Septem- 
ber 5,  1812.  In  1831  he  became  a  member  of  this  church . 
In  1835  he  was  ordained  at  the  First  Church  in  Suffield. 
From  Suffield  he  moved  to  Brooklyn,  becoming  pastor  of 
the  First  Baptist  Church  in  that  city.  After  a  long  pastor- 
ate, he  founded  the  Washington  Avenue  Baptist  Church, 
becoming  pastor  of  the  new  interest.  He  had  also  a 
pastorate  in  Newark,  N.  J.  In  1864  he  became  pastor 
of  the  Mariners'  Church  of  New  York,  a  position  which 
he  held  until  age  constrained  him  to  retire. 

LESTER   LEWIS. 

He  was  born  in  Suffield  October  15,  1817.  He  was 
baptized  by  Dr.  Jackson  in  1838,  and  studied  at  Suffield. 
He  was  ordained  in  Agawam,  Mass.,  in  1840,  and  was 
subsequently  pastor  of  the  church  in  Bristol.  In  1853 
he  accepted  a  call  to  the  church  at  Middletown,  where  he 
died  in  the  maturity  of  manhood,  in  the  midst  of  a 
glorious  revival,  February  7,  1858.  He  was  greatly  be- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  231 

loved,  and  was  often  called  to  aid  pastors  in  the  time  of 
revivals. 

ELISHA   CUSHMAN,    JR. 

He  was  born  at  Hartford  July  4,  1813.  In  early  life 
he  was  a  printer,  associated  with  Mr.  Canfield,  then 
publisher  of  the  Christian  Secretary,  and  also  with  Mr. 
Isaac  E.  Bolles,  of  the  Northern  Courier.  In  1839,  a^ 
the  age  of  twenty-six,  Mr.  Cushman  was  converted,  and 
united  with  our  church.  In  1840  he  was  licensed  to 
preach.  He  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Willington, 
where  he  remained  for  five  years,  seventy-one  members 
being  added  to  the  church.  In  April,  1847,  ne  accepted 
a  call  to  the  church  in  Deep  River,  where  he  remained 
for  twelve  years.  His  pastorate  there  was  singularly 
successful.  In  1859  ne  became  pastor  at  West  Hartford, 
where  he  remained  until  1 862 .  He  then  assumed  charge 
of  the  Christian  Secretary,  and  retained  it  until  his 
death,  January  4,  1876.  He  was  a  preacher  of  real 
power,  a  man  of  deep  piety,  self-possessed  under  all 
circumstances,  and  pervaded  with  genuine  affection. 
His  widow,  Mrs.  Frances  Cushman,  survives  him,  and 
is  now  an  active  and  useful  member  of  this  church. 

WILLIAM   C.    WALKER. 

He  was  born  in  Warwick,  R.  I.,  December  24th,  1818, 
converted  at  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  baptized  at 
Westerly  in  1837.  He  subsequently  moved  to  Hartford 
and  became  a  member  of  this  church.  In  1841  he 
entered  upon  a  four  years'  course  of  study  for  the 
ministry ;  was  ordained  and  became  pastor  of  the  Groton 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

Church  1845.  After  a  successful  pastorate  here  of  four 
years  and  another  of  six  and  a  half  years  at  "Wellington, 
he  became  pastor  of  the  Church  at  Putnam.  Here  he 
remained  until  1864  and  had  a  wonderful  success.  He 
then  entered  the  army  as  chaplain,  and  was  afterwards 
for  more  than  six  years  pastor  at  New  Britain.  The 
settlement  here  was  one  of  continuous  revival.  The 
present  house  of  worship  was  erected  during  his  pastorate 
there.  In  1871  he  became  the  Sunday-school  Missionary 
of  the  State.  In  this  position  he  remained  for  many 
years  doing  valiant  work,  which  endeared  him  all  over 
the  state.  He  was  a  brave  soldier,  an  ardent  abolitionist, 
friend  of  the  mission  cause  and  of  temperance  reform. 
He  died  October,  1886. 

DANIEL   J.    GLAZIER. 

He  was  born  April  n,  1828,  at  Willington.  He  was 
graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1851,  and  entered 
upon  the  study  of  law  in  Hartford.  Soon  thereafter  he 
was  converted,  and  united  with  our  church.  He  began 
to  prepare  for  the  ministry,  entering  upon  a  course  of 
study  at  Newton.  He  died  March  19,  1855,  in  the  last 
year  of  his  course,  after  having  been  called  to  a  pastorate 
in  Fall  River,  Mass.  In  his  death  a  life  of  surpassing 
promise  was  brought  to  a  mysterious  close. 

SAMUEL   M.    WHITING. 

He  was  born  in  Sutton,  Mass.,  June  25,  1825,  and 
removed  to  Hartford  in  1839.  He  was  converted  at 
fifteen,  and  baptized  by  Mr.  Eaton  soon  after.  He  was 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  233 

graduated  from  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  in  1846, 
and  from  Newton  Theological  Institution  in  1850; 
ordained  May  8,  1850,  at  Hartford;  and  married  to 
Miss  Mary  Flint  of  this  city.  In  June  following,  they 
sailed  as  missionaries  for  Assam,  India.  His  missionary 
service  in  India  covered  a  decade  remarkable  for  the 
enlargement  of  missionary  operations.  He  translated 
large  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  from  Hebrew  into 
Assamese.  For  four  years  he  took  charge  of  the  printing 
establishment,  and  for  two  years  he  had  the  whole 
charge  of  the  mission  at  Sibsagor.  He  did  a  great 
work  for  Assam.  Returning  to  this  country  on 
account  of  Mrs.  Whiting's  health  in  1861 ;  for  seven 
years  he  was  pastor  of  the  church  in  Colchester,  Vt. ;  for 
four  years  in  Windsor,  Vt. ;  and  finally  at  Fair  Haven, 
Conn.  The  church  there  owes  to  him,  under  God, 
almost  its  very  existence.  He  built  their  present  church 
edifice,  a  monument  of  his  fidelity.  His  failing  health 
compelled  his  retirement.  He  removed  to  New  Haven, 
and  there  died  February  21,  1878. 

JEREMIAH   ASHER. 

He  was  born  in  Branford  October  13,  1812.  His 
parents  were  natives  of  Africa.  He  became  pastor  of  a 
church  in  Providence,  and  afterwards  of  the  Shiloh 
Baptist  Church  in  Philadelphia.  During  the  war  he  was 
chaplin  of  a  colored  regiment  in  the  Northern  army. 

JULIUS   BOND. 

He  was  born  November  21,  1828,  in  Canterbury.  He 
was  graduated  from  Brown  University  in  1856.  He 

16 


234  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

was  never  ordained,  but  statedly  supplied  the  church  in 
Southington  several  months,  then  a  church  in  Illinois, 
and  has  supplied  other  churches  occasionally.  He  now 
lives  in  Plantsville,  where  he  has  been  an  active  and  useful 
member  of  the  church  in  that  place  since  it  was  estab- 
lished. Mr.  Bond  is  a  brother  of  the  excellent  literary 
editor  of  the  Christian  Secretary,  the  Rev.  E.  P.  Bond. 

EDWARD    M.    JEROME. 

He  was  born  in  Bristol  June  15,  1826;  was  graduated 
from  Yale  in  1850;  baptized  by  Dr.  Turnbull  in  1856; 
and  became  pastor  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  West 
Meriden,  Conn.,  and  Westfield,  Mass.  He  served 
as  Sunday-school  Missionary  of  the  State  Convention, 
and  has  been  engaged  in  editorial  work.  He  is  at  present 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Shore  Lines  Times,  of  New 
Haven. 

HENRY   E.    ROBINS,    D.  D.,    LL.  D. 

was  born  in  Hartford,  and  is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Gurdon 
Robins.  He  was  ordained  December  6,  1861 ;  was  pastor 
of  the  Central  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  R.  I.,  for  five 
years,  and  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  for  six  years.  While  at 
Newport  he  was  associated  with  Dr.  Jackson  until  the 
death  of  the  latter.  He  was  President  of  Colby  Univer- 
sity from  1873,  for  several  years,  where  he  did  an  im- 
portant work.  He  is  now  Professor  in  the  Rochester 
Theological  Seminary.  Feeble  health  has  restrained  him 
from  appearing  often  in  public  of  late  years.  He  has 
been  one  of  the  gifted  and  eloquent  preachers  in  the 
denomination.  His  excellent  sister,  Mrs.  Caroline  Tur- 
ney,  the  widow  of  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Edmund  Turney,  at 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  235 

one  time  pastor  of  the  South  Church,  is  now  a  faithful 
member  of  this  church.  Dr.  Robins  was  invited  to 
deliver  an  address  at  the  centennial  celebration.  His 
health  prevented  his  coming  in  person,  but  did  not  pre- 
vent his  sending  the  excellent  address,  which  was  read 
by  Dr.  Stone.  The  address  will  be  found  on  page  105. 

JAMES   HOPE   ARTHUR. 

He  was  born  in  Hartford  May  27,  1842  ;  was  graduated 
from  Brown  University  in  1870,  and  from  Newton  in 
1873.  He  was  ordained  in  Hartford  in  June,  1873.  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  sailed  for  Japan,  locating  as 
a  missionary  at  Yokohama,  and  later  at  Tokio.  Ill 
health  compelled  him  to  return  home  in  1877.  He 
reached. San  Francisco  in  June,  and  died  in  December. 
He  was  an  earnest  Christian,  a  laborious  missionary, 
and  gave  promise  of  great  usefulness.  He  gathered  a 
church  of  twenty  members  at  Tokio. 

JOSEPH    H.    MATHER 

was  born  at  Deep  River,  October  26th,  1822  ;  converted 
at  nine  years  of  age  and  welcomed  into  the  church. 
His  testimony,  given  soon  after  his  conversion,  resulted 
in  the  conversion  of  a  thoughtless  and  hardened  young 
man,  who  afterwards  entered  the  ministry.  Mr.  Mather 
studied  at  Suffield,  Brown  University  and  Newton.  Ill 
health  prevented  his  graduation  at  college,  shortened  his 
ministerial  life,  and  obliged  him  to  go  into  business. 
He  died  in  1853,  but  thirty-one  years  of  age.  His 
widow,  Mrs.  Rachel  C.  Mather,  established  the  Mather 
Industrial  School  for  colored  people  at  Beaufort,  S.  C., 
and  still  conducts  it  with  success.  Mr.  Mather  was  a 


236  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

man  of  excellent  Christian  character  and  highly  re- 
spected. He  was  connected  with  this  church  for  some 
years. 

HALSEY   W.    KNAPP,    D.  D., 

son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  R.  Knapp,  was  born  in  New 
York,  October  3  ist,  1824;  entered  Sumeld  in  1837;  in 
1840  engaged  in  business  with  the  Rev.  Gurdon  Robins 
at  Hartford;  was  converted  during  the  great  revival 
under  Elder  Knapp,  largely  through  the  personal  labor 
of  Mrs.  Caroline  Turney.  He  was  baptized  by  Mr. 
Eaton.  He  was  early  drawn  toward  the  ministry.  Al- 
though silent  about  his  convictions,  was  advised  by 
Deacon  Gilbert  to  return  to  school  and  prepare  to  preach. 
Shrinking  from  dependence  on  others  for  an  education, 
he  declined.  Coldness  and  backsliding  followed.  In 
1857  ne  yielded  to  the  call,  and  began  work  at  Hudson 
City,  N.  J.,  with  a  church  of  sixteen  members.  He 
founded  a  Baptist  Church  at  West  Farms,  N.  Y., 
returning  to  his  first  church,  built  the  meeting-house, 
and  remained  seven  years ;  then  settled  with  the  South 
Baptist  Church,  then  with  the  Pilgrim  Baptist  Church, 
both  in  New  York  City.  In  1871  he  took  the  old  field 
of  the  Laight  Street  Church.  Here  great  revivals  were 
given  and  very  many  souls  saved.  This  church  he  merged 
into  the  old  Macdougal  Street  Church.  After  fourteen 
years  he  resigned,  and  is  now  pastor  of  the  Central 
Baptist  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  Dr.  Knapp  has  always 
been  in  business  and  is  now. 

HEMAN   H.    BARBOUR 

was  born  June  226.,  1850,  and  united  with  this  church  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  237 

March,  1859.  He  studied  law  with  his  father,  Judge 
Barbour,  and  aftewards  practiced  his  profession  at  New 
Britain.  The  conversion  of  his  young  son  was  the  occa- 
sion of  the  quickening  of  his  religious  life  and  his 
entrance  into  the  ministry.  He  was  ordained  in  the 
fall  of  1880  and  settled  with  the  North  Baptist  Church 
of  Newark,  N.  J.  He  remained  there  six  years,  and 
then  became  pastor  of  the  North  Baptist  Church  of 
Camden,  N.  J.,  for  a  year  and  a  half.  Since  the  spring 
of  1888  he  has  been  the  pastor  of  the  Belden  Avenue 
Baptist  Church,  Chicago. 

THOMAS   S.    BARBOUR 

was  born  July  28th,  1853,  and  united  with  this  church 
May  ist,  1864.  He  was  graduated  from  Brown  Univer- 
sity in  1874  and  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary  in 
1877.  He  was  pastor  at  Brockport,  N.  Y.,  for  four 
years,  North  Orange,  N.  J.,  two  years,  and  since 
October,  1883,  of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Fall  River, 
Mass.,  where  he  still  labors  with  great  acceptance. 
While  at  Brockport  he  had  the  pleasure  of  baptizing  his 
three  brothers,  William  H.,  Clarence  A.  and  John  B. 
The  second  is  now  a  member  of  the  senior  class  of  the 
Rochester  Theological  Seminary,  and  the  former  is 
about  to  enter  the  seminary  with  the  ministry  in  view. 
Mr.  Barbour  was  invited  to  deliver  an  address  at  the 
centennial  anniversary  of  the  church.  Accepting  the 
invitation,  he  was  present,  and  spoke  with  great  interest 
to  all.  His  address  may  be  found  on  page  94  of  this 
volume.  Mr.  Barbour,  as  this  sketch  goes  to  press,  is 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

on  his  way  to  visit  Palestine,  in  company  with  the  Rev. 
Byron  A.  Woods  of  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  J.  K.  Wilson 
of  Taunton,  Mass.,  and  the  Rev.  G.  C.  Baldwin,  Jr.,  of 
Springfield. 

WILLIAM   WARD    WEST 

is  the  youngest  child  of  the  church  in  the  ministry.  He 
was  born  in  this  city,  July  i  ith,  1858.  He  was  converted 
at  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  baptized  by  Dr.  Sage  February 
27111^1876.  He  at  once  became  an  active  Christian,  and 
in  1879  began  a  course  of  study  preparatory  to  entering 
the  ministry.  He  took  the  honors  of  his  class  at  Suf- 
field,  studied  at  the  University  of  Rochester,  at  the 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  and  graduated  in  1889 
from  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  His  ten 
years'  course  of  study  was  partially  interrupted  by  his 
own  labors  to  secure  the  funds  needed  for  his  education. 
During  his  course  he  supplied  the  church  at  Tariffville 
for  two  years.  In  the  fall  of  1889  he  became  Assistant 
Pastor  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  Church  at  Pittsburg.  In 
eight  months  the  Oakland  mission  in  his  care  was  organ- 
ized as  a  church  with  forty  members.  This  young  church 
he  still  serves  with  great  success.  He  was  married  Octo- 
ber 9th,  1889,  to  Miss  Jennie  E.  Sanford  of  New  Hart- 
ford. By  an  inadvertence  Mr.  West's  letter  to  the 
church  at  the  centennial  celebration  was  omitted. 

OTHER   NAMES. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  secure  biographical  sketches 
of  all  who  have  gone  from  the  church  into  the  ministry. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES.  239 

The  following  list  contains  the  names  of  some,  if  not  all, 
of  the  others. 

JOSEPH  JEFFERY, 

PETER  EASTON, 

S.  B.  RANDALL, 

S.  L.  BRONSON, 

R.  H.  BOWLES, 

G.  W.  PENDLETON, 

BENJAMIN  GOWER, 

RALPH  H.  MAINE, 

JOHN  CLAPP, 

D.  R.  LUMSDIN, 
JOHN  JENNINGS, 
WILLIAM  BRONSON, 

E.  H.  BRONSON, 
W.  C.  MUXROE, 
M.  C.  THWING, 
OTIS  SAXTON. 


DEACONS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

John  Bolles,  chosen  1790  ;  died  March,  1830. 

Samuel  Beckwith,  chosen  1790  ;  died  September,  1833. 

Gurdon  Robins,  chosen  January  aoth,  1814  ;  resigned  October  sth,  1817. 

Joseph  B.  Gilbert,  chosen  October  sth,  1817  ;  died  June  2d,  1857. 

Jeremiah  Brown,  chosen  March,  1822  ;  died  August  isth,  1851. 

Waterman  Roberts,  chosen  April  23d,  1830  ;  resigned  October  i7th,  1834. 

Philemon  Canfield,  chosen  May  27th,  1836  ;  resigned  July,  1842. 

Aaron  Clapp,  chosen  May  27th,  1836  ;  removed  March  3d,  1844. 

Chauncy  G.  Smith,  chosen  July  22,  1842. 

James  G.  Bolles,  chosen  February  3d,  1845  ;  died  March  29th,  1871. 

John  Braddock,  chosen  January  26th,  1852  ;  died  April  nth,  1871. 

James  L.  Howard,  chosen  January  26th,  1857. 

William  Wallace,  chosen  March  4th,  1870  ;  died  July  loth,  1881. 

Charles  B.  Canfield,  chosen  March  4th,  1870. 

Gustavus  F.  Davis,  chosen  September  2gth,  1881. 

Luther  C.  Glazier,  chosen  November  6th,  1881. 

Rush  P.  Chapman,  chosen  November  6th,  1881. 

Carnot  O.  Spencer,  chosen  October  3d,  1889. 

CLERKS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Luther  Savage,  from  April  4th,  1790,  to  February  i7th,  1809. 
Gurdon  Robins,  from  February  i7th,  1809,  to  October  sth,  1817. 
Edward  Bolles,  from  October  sth,  1817,  to  September,  1822. 
Jeremiah  Brown,  from  September,  1822,  to  August  25th,  1825. 
Gurdon  Robins,  from  August  25th,  1825,  to  February  3d,  1827. 
Albert  Day,  from  February  3d,  1827,  to  May  3oth,  1834. 
Joseph  W.  Dimock,  from  May  3oth,  1834,  to  January  i2th,  1852. 
Henry  E.  Robins,  from  January  i2th,  1852,  to  December  2d,  1853. 
Heman  H.  Babour,  from  December  2d,  1853,  to  October  3oth,  1857. 
Daniel  D.  Erving,  from  October  3oth,  1857,  to  September  loth,  1866. 
F.  B.  Eustis,  from  September  loth,  1866,  to  April  ist,  1880. 
Chester  G.  Munyan,  from  April  ist.  1880. 


GURDON   ROBINS 


JOSEPH   B.  GILBERT. 


JEREMIAH   BROWN. 


JOHN   BOLLES 


PHILEMON   CANFIELD. 


JAMES  G.    BOLLES. 


JOHN   BRADDOCK. 


EARLY  OFFICERS. 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


PRESENT  OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


PASTOR : 
The  Rev.  J.  S.  JAMES.— Residence,  102  Ann  Street. 

DEACONS  : 
CHAUNCY  G.  SMITH, 
JAMES  L.  HOWARD, 
GUSTAVUS  F.  DAVIS, 
LUTHER  C.  GLAZIER, 
RUSH  P.  CHAPMAN, 
CARNOT  O.  SPENCER. 

CLERK: 
CHESTER  G.  MUNYAN. 

TREASURER : 
CHAUNCY  G.  SMITH. 

THE  CHURCH  COMMITTEE. 

In  addition  to  the  Pastor,  Deacons,  and  Clerk,  the  following : — 
J.  W.  DIMOCK,  F.  A.  CHAPIN,  A.  J.  PRUDEN, 

W.  S.  BRONSON,  W.  O.  CARPENTER,  W.  C.  BOLLES, 

JOHN  SLOAN,  ALBERT  GUY,  A.  S.  BAILEY, 

W.  B.  CLARK,  G.  T.  UTLEY,  J.  G.  BURNET. 

THE  SOCIETY'S  COMMITTEE  : 

CARNOT  O.  SPENCER,  Chairman;     SILAS  CHAPMAN,  Jr.,  Clerk  ; 
W.  O.  CARPENTER,      C.  H.  EMMONS,     W.  C.  BOLLES,     W.  B.  CLARK. 


ROLL    OF    MEMBERSHIP. 


Adams,  Jane  J.,  widow  of  F.  D. 
Adams,  William  J.     i 
Adams,  Emily  A.        \ 
Allardyce,  Charles  B.     ) 
Allardyce,  Catharine      ) 
Allen,  Ada,  widow  of  Edward 
Allen,  Mary  A.,  widow  of  Wm.  G. 
Allis,  Miss  Frances  M. 
Alpress,  H.  W.,  widow  of  G.  L. 
Andrews,  Wales  L. 
Andrews,  Elizab'h,  widow  of  Lyman 
Annis,  Caroline  H.,  wife  of  B.  H. 
Arnold,  Frances  M.,  wife  of  G.  W. 
Arthur,  Louisa,  widow  of  James  G. 
Ashwell,  Miss  Elizabeth  S. 
Aston,  Delia  F.  (Taylor),  wife  of 

William 
Atwood,  Mary  R.,  wife  of  T.  W. 

Babcock,  Caroline,  wife  of  A.  W. 

Bailey,  Asher  S. 

Bailey,  Hannah  E.,  wife  of  Charles 

Barker,  Charles  S.  W. 

Barker,  Ludlow 

Barker,  William  E.     ) 

Barker,  Lizzie  B.         ) 

Barnes,  George  C. 

Barnum,  Miss  Belle  M. 

Barrows,  Miss  Nellie  M. 

Bartlett,  James  B. 

Batterson,  James  G. 

Batterson,  James  G.,  Jr. 

Bayliss,  Charles  E. 

Bayliss,  Eunice  W.  (Brown) 

Bayliss,  James  E.       [ 

Bayliss,  Isadore  E.     ) 

Beardsley,  Anna  G.,  wife  of  B.  F. 

Beardsley,  Miss  Mary  A. 

Beardsley,  Guy  E. 

Beeman,  William  M.     ) 

Beeman,  Mary  A.          j 

Behner,  F.  Edward 

Behner,  Ella  M.  (Shumway) 


140  Maple  Ave. 

B.  May    5,  1848 

80  Church 

B.  Jan.    5,  1868 

" 

B.  May    2,  1858 

28  Center 

L.  June   i,  1882 

" 

L.  June  i,  1882 

559  Main 

L.  Nov.  29,  1878 

G.     Chicago,  111. 

L.  Jan.    4,  1850 

90  Edwards 

L.  Sep.    5,  1886 

39  Chestnut 

B.  Mar.    7,  1841 

Elmwood 

L.  July    7,  1868 

nan  98  Edwards 

B.  Mar.    7,  1841 

t.       Tylerville 

B.  July    4,  1858 

W.     Springfield,  Mass. 

B.  Mar.   3,  1878 

G.     54  Chestnut 

B.  May  20,  1855 

W.  Rocky  Hill 

L.  Sep.  28,  1882 

of 

Milford 

L.  June  3,  1880 

Richm'd  City,  Wis. 

L.  Aug.  7,  1864 

East  Hartford 

B.  Apr.    4,  1873 

East  Hartford 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

les    1043  Main 

L.  May  10,  1852 

26  Belden 

B.  Jan.  22,  1865 

Farmington  Ave. 

L.  Apr.    2,  1852 

56  Asylum 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

" 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

29  Spring 

B.  Mar.  28,  1858 

25  1-2  Florence 

L.  June  30,  1887 

190  Sisson  Ave. 

L.  Feb.    3,  1881 

24  Belden 

L.  Nov.  29,  1872 

i  Vine 

L.  Sep.    7,  1845 

New  York  City 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

30  Vernon 

B.  Apr.  21,  1878 

" 

B.  Oct.  24,  1886 

129  Trumbull 

B.  May    5,  1878 

" 

B.  May    5,  1878 

F.      90  Edwards 

L.  Sep.    5,  1886 

90  Edwards 

L.  Sep.    5,  1886 

90  Edwards 

B.  Jan.    i,  1888 

10  Avon 

L.  Jan.  31,  1867 

" 

B.  Apr.   6,  1876 

22  Walnut 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

" 

B.  Mar.  19,  1876 

244 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Belcher,  Eliza  A.,  widow  of  John 

Belcher,  Mary  E.,  wife  of  R.  S. 

Belknap,  Miss  Rosella 

Bennett,  Alice  (Howard).wife  of  E.B. 

Berry,  Anna  F.,  widow  of  Benj. 

Bestor,  Foronda 

Bestor,  L.  (Merritt),  wife  of  S.  J. 

Bidwell,  Frank  L. 

Bissell,  Miss  Emma  L. 

Bliss,  Emeline,  wife  of  Edward 

Bolles,  Enoch 

Bolles,  George  J. 

Bolles,  Herman  L. 

Bolles,  Jane,  widow  of  E.  J. 

Bolles,  Miss  Jennie  J. 

Bolles,  Wm.  C.  ^ 

Bolles,  Harriet  E.  (Payne)     \ 

Bonner,  John  D.  ^ 

Bonner,  Violet  (Marsh)     \ 

Bowers,  Miss  Ellen  M. 

Boynton,  Miss  Ada 

Boynton,  Edward  B.  ) 

Boynton,  Jennie  P.  (Sloane)     ) 

Boynton,  Miss  Ella  L. 

Boynton,  Geo.  H. 

Boynton,  Henry  M. 

Braddock,  Miss  Annie 

Bradstreet,  F.  A. ,  wife  of  G.  W. 

Brewer,  Alice  M.,  wife  of  Janeway 

Brewer,  Miss  Carrie  E. 

Brewer,  C.  A.,  widow  of  F.  A. 

Brewster,  Alfred  L. 

Brewster,  Mary  E.,  widow  of  N.  D. 

Brewster,  Sarah  E.,  wife  of  H.  T. 

Broadus,  S.  S. 

Bronson,  Miss  Emma  L. 

Bronson,  Willis  S.  ) 

Bronson,  Sarah  A.  (Winslow)     ) 

Brown,  Miss  Abbie  C. 

Brown,  Elmer  E. 

Brown,  Miss  Mary  E. 

Brown,  Robert 

Brown,  William  A.        ) 

Brown,  Margaret  G.      » 

Buckley,  Wm.  O.,  Jr.     ) 

Buckley,  Nellie  A.  J 

Bulkeley,  Miss  Bertha 

Bullock,  Mary  O.,  wife  of  Jos.  B. 


New  London 

B.  Oct.  22,  1837 

Buckland 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

179  Albany  Ave. 

B.  Apr.   4,  1858 

67  Collins 

B.  Dec.    5,  1858 

107  Hungerford 

B.  Dec.    6,  1857 

New  Hartford 

L.  Nov.  .4,  1872 

So  Buckingham 

B.  Mar.  14,  1852 

Manchester 

L.  June  28,  1877 

Windsor 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

54  Sumner 

B.  Feb.    4,  1872 

Ashford 

B.  Mar.    5,  1865 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

12  Village 

B.  Nov.  6,  1887 

10  Goodman  Place 

B.  Apr.    2,  1852 

12  Village 

B.  Apr.    6,  1884 

12  Village 

B.  Apr.    2,  1852 

" 

L.  May  29,  1873 

88  Fairniount 

L.  June  4,  iSSi 

" 

B.  May    4,  1881 

i  So  High 

B.  Jan.     5,  1868 

38  Williams 

B.  June   5,  1887 

38  Williams 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

" 

B.  Feb.  27,  iSSi 

38  Williams 

L.  May    i,  1879 

Wallingford 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

38  Williams 

L.  May    i,  1879 

13  Capitol  Ave. 

B.  Jan.  17,  1841 

Roylston,  Vt. 

B.  Jan.    i,  1865 

East  Hartford 

E.  Oct.    5,  1866 

29  Pratt 

B.  Dec.  22,  1889 

29  Pratt 

B.  Mar.    2,  1862 

26  Goodwin 

B.  June    4,  1881 

26  Goodwin 

L.  Apr.    6,  1873 

41  Windsor 

B.  May    2,  1852 

Louisville,  Ky. 

L.  Oct.  31,  1889 

106  Ann 

B.  June   5,  1864 

1  06  Ann 

B.  Mar.   4,  1842 

" 

B.  Dec.    i,  1842 

36  Bond 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

Rocky  Hill 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

472  Main 

B.  May  20,  1838 

Providence,  R.  I. 

E.  Dec.  25,  1878 

Rocky  Hill 

L.  Aug.  31,  1866 

" 

L.  Aug,  31,  1866 

312  Asylum 

B.  Oct.  25,  1885 

" 

L.  Oct.  29,  1885 

8  Belden 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

154  Main 

B.  Jan.     5,  1868 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Burdick,  Rollin  D.                    ) 

12  Canton 

B.  June  6,  1858 

Burdick,  Sarah  J.  (Glazier)     \ 

" 

B.  Apr.    5,  1863 

Burnet,  James  G.      ) 

no  Hopkins 

L.  Jan.  30,  1879 

Burnet,  Carrie  M.     f 

" 

B.  Feb.    2,  1879 

Butman,  Ransom  T.  . 

57  Farmington 

L.  Feb.  27,  1890 

Cadwell,  Amelia  H.,  wife  of  J.  M. 

James  Street 

B.  Nov.   4,  1866 

Cairnes,  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Joseph 

17  Canton 

L.  Aug.  30,  1878 

Callender,  Mary  G.,  widow  of  Lewis  129  Trumbull 

B.  Apr.    i,  1838 

Campbell,  H.  M.,  wife  of  A.  C. 

206  Asylum 

B.  Mar.  14,  1858 

Canfield,  Miss  Ellen  A. 

116  Main 

B.  Jan.    4,  1852 

Carpenter,  Miss  Cora 

Burnside 

B.  June   5,  1887 

Carpenter,  Fred  H.                  | 

2  East 

B.  Apr.  27,  1884 

Carpenter,  Julia  A.  (Case)      f 

" 

L.  July    i,  1886 

Carpenter,  Frederick  H.     ) 

Burnside 

L.  May   i,  1879 

Carpenter,  Anna                   ) 

" 

L.  May   i,  1879 

Carpenter,  Ira              [ 

Burnside 

L.  Nov.  29,  1878 

Carpenter,  Lucy  A.     ) 

" 

L.  Nov.  29,  1878 

Carpenter,  William  O.     ) 

12  Belden 

B.  June   i,  1884 

Carpenter,  Helen  L.         f 

" 

E.  July    3,  1884 

Carman,  George  G.     ) 

38  Church 

R.  Jan.  28,  1886 

Carman,  Nancy  E.       f 

" 

L.  Apr.    5,  1850 

Carrier,  David  H.     ) 

Glastonbury 

B.  Nov.    2,  1856 

Carrier,  Mary  J.         ) 

" 

L.  June  3,  1859 

Case,  Horace  J. 

49  Bellevue 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

Case,  Laura  A.,  wife  of  H.  O. 

591  Main 

B.  July    4,  1858 

Case,  Miss  Mabel  D. 

591  Main 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

Chadwick,  Hattie  W.   (Waghorn), 

wife  of  Elliot 

S.  Hampton,  L.  I. 

L.  July    3,  1884 

Chamberlain,  C.  W. 

1478  Broad 

L.  May  29,  1890 

Chapin,  Francis  A.     ) 

85  Jefferson 

L.  Jan.    5,  1879 

Chapin,  Jane  P.           j 

" 

L.  Jan.    5,  1879 

Chapin,  Miss  Florence  E. 

85  Jefferson 

L.  Jan.    5,  1879 

Chapin,  Miss  Laura 

85  Jefferson 

B.  Feb.  27,  1881 

Chapin,  Miss  Mary  L. 

85  Jefferson 

L.  Jan.    5,  1879 

Chapman,  Dwight 

34  Morgan 

B.  Mar.   6,  1887 

Chapman,  Adeline,  widow  of  S.  E. 

30  Washington 

B.  Feb.  25,  1838 

Chapman,  Frederick  S. 

113  Edwards 

B.  Jan.     i,  1888 

Chapman,  James  O.      \ 

22  Belden 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

Chapman,  Nancy  T.     \ 

11 

E.  May    4,  1876 

Chapman,  Maria  F.  ,  widow  of  Silas 

911  Main 

B.  Mar.   4,  1838 

Chapman,  Rush  P.       ) 

113  Edwards 

L.  Oct.  29,  1874 

Chapman,  Addie  E.     I 

" 

L,  Oct.  29,  1874 

Chapman,  Silas,  Jr.     ) 

911  Main 

B.  May  17,  1874 

Chapman,  Julia  A.       f 

" 

B.  May  17,  1874 

Chapman,  Sophia,  wife  of  Adelbert 

559  Main 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

Charter,  Miss  Lena  E. 

88  Wooster 

B.  Apr.   6,  1884 

Charter,  Oliver  E. 

8~8  Wooster 

B.  Jan.  26,  1890 

246 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Church,  J.  M.(Chalker),wife  of  H.  B. 

Clapp,  Nellie  L.,  wife  of  Cyrus  C. 

Clark,  Alice  B. ,  wife  of  Oliver 

Clark,  Emily  J.,  widow  of  A.  N. 

Clark,  Emma  (Haub),  wife  of  H.  D. 

Clark,  George  N. 

Clark,  Nellie  R. (Crosby)  wife  of  E.D. 

Clark,  William  B. 

Clay,  George     | 

Clay,  Anna        ) 

Clay,  William     ) 

Clay,  Hannah     f 

Clough,  Miss  Emma  J. 

Coleman,  Fannie  E.,  wife  of  A.  H. 

Cook,  Edward  W.,  Jr. 

Cook,  Miss  Lucinda  A. 

Cook,  Lucy  A.,  widow  of  John 

Cooley,  Sarah,  widow  of  Almon 

Cooper,  H.  (Wright),  wife  of  W.  F. 

Cornwall,  Jessie  L.,  wife  of  Geo.  I. 

Crosby,  Albert  H. 

Crosby,  George  E.     ) 

Crosby,  Clara  J.          f 

Crosby,  Miss  Mary  E. 

Crosby,  Albert  W. 

Crosby,  Miss  Carrie  May 

Crowell,  John  W.        ) 

Crowell,  Amelia  A.     \ 

Cummings,  Miss  Ida  L. 

Curtis,  E.  C.  B.,  wife  of  G.  W. 

Cushman,  F.  V.,  widow  of  Elisha 

Daniels,  Charles  B.     ^ 

Daniels,  Jane  H.          } 

Daniels,  Lillian  M.,  wife  of  Wm.  N. 

Darlin,  Parker  L. 

Dart,  Mary  P.,  wife  of  Charles 

Davis,  Gustavus  F.     ) 

Davis,  Lucy  T.  f 

Davis,  Joseph  S.        ) 

Davis,  Frances  L.     i 

Davis,  Josephine,  wife  of  I.  B. 

Delahanty,  H.  A.,  wife  of  John  J. 

Dickinson,  Carrie  E.,  wife  of  E.  M. 

Dickinson,  Franklin  P. 

Dimock,  Joseph  W. 

Dow,  Annie,  wife  of  D.  H. 

Drake,  Nathan  F. 


Bridgeport 

B.  Mar.    3,  1878 

26  Church 

L.  Mar.    2,  1876 

Wapping 

B.  June  22,  1865 

13  Capitol  Avenue 

B.  Jan.  17,  1841 

19  Morgan 

B.  Mar.  28,  1886 

13  Capitol  Avenue 

B.  Apr.    4,  1873 

181  Babcock 

B.  Mar.  27,  1881 

268  Farmington 

B.  Jan.     3,  1858 

Putnam 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

" 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

68  Clark 

L.  Nov.   2,  1882 

" 

L.  Nov.    2,  1882 

405  Main 

L.  June  4,  1885 

778  Main 

B.  Nov.   3,  1867 

905  Main 

B.  July    7,  1884 

916  Main 

B.  Mar.    2,  1862 

85  Clark 

B.  Dec.   4,  1864 

684  Main 

E.  Mar.  31,  1876 

103  Jefferson 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

112  Hungerford 

B.  Apr.  13,  1881 

112  Hungerford 

B.  Mar.  27,  1881 

" 

L.  Nov.  29,  1872 

106  Trumbull 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

19  Seyms 

B.  Feb.    6,  1887 

ji2  Hungerford 

B.  Jan.  26,  1890 

455  Garden 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

" 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

2  Bellevue 

B.  Dec.  22,  1889 

230  Main 

L.  Jan.  16,  1890 

43  Chestnut 

L.  June  3,  1870 

926  Main 

L.  Apr.  28,  1881 

" 

L.  Jan.    7,  1883 

Winthrop 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

East  Hartford 

B.  May    5,  1878 

325  Asylum 

L.  July    3,  1890 

129  Washington 

B.  Mar.  24,  1833 

" 

B.  Mar.  30,  1834 

46  Wooster 

L.  Mar.  29,  1883 

" 

L.  Mar.  29,  1883 

183  High 

L.  Sep.    6,  1867 

75  Pleasant 

L.  Mar.   4,  1877 

218  Main 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

Philadelphia 

B.  Dec.    4,  1871 

204  High 

B.  Apr.  28,  1816 

943  Main 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

805  Main 

B.  Feb.  28,  1841 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


247 


Dubes,  Miss  Mary  352  Main  L.  Nov.  4,  1886 

Duley,  Julia  E.,  wife  of  J.  E.  80  Church  E.  June  4,  1858 

Dunham,  Mrs.  Amelia  F.  186  Collins  L.  Nov.    5,  1882 

Dustin,  Loraine  (King),  wife  of  C.  E.  519  Farmington  B.  Feb.  19,  1865 


Eaton,  Miss  Harriet  Isabel 

Edwards,  Miss  Florence  G. 

Edwards,  Herbert  C. 

Edwards,  Irad 

Edwards,  Nellie  G.,  wife  of  C.  W.  B. 

Emmons,  Miss  Alice  M. 

Emmons,  Charles  H.      > 

Emmons,  Eunice  H.       \ 

Erving,  Henry  W.     ) 

Erving,  Mary  E.         \ 

Erving,  William  A. 

Estlow,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  Alfred 

Eustis,  Amelia  S.,  widow  of  O. 

Eustis,  Francis  B. 

Evans,  L.  V.  (Marsh),  wife  of  A.  F. 

Fairfield,  Miss  Clara  E. 

Fairfield,  Edmund  J. 

Fairfield,  Isabella  E.,  wife  of  J.  M. 

Farwell,  Asa  J. 

Faxon,  Edward  R. 

Ferguson,  Janette,  wife  of  R.  W. 

Fields,  Miss  Esther 

Fiske,  Narcissa  A.,  wife  of  F.  B. 

Fisher,  Charles  A. 

Fisher,  Charles  F. 

Fitch,  Miss  Cornelia  A. 

Fitch,  Frederick  L.     ) 

Fitch,  Fannie  L.          ) 

Fitch,  Irving  D. 

Flint,  Benjamin  F.     ) 

Flint,  Jennie  F.  ) 

Foote,  C.  F.,  widow  of  Lewis 

Ford,  Miss  Mary  E. 

Ford,  Miss  Sarah 

Ford,  William     ) 

Ford,  Ellen          j 

Foster,  Mrs.  Estelle  M.  (Pebbles) 

French,  Joseph 

Frost,  Henry  D.     ) 

Frost,  Abbie  B.       ) 

Frost,  Miss  Hattie  L. 

Fuller,  Miss  Alice  S. 

Francis,  F.  I.  (Miller),  wife  of  J.  W. 


58  Church 
70  Edwards 
70  Edwards 
15  East 
70  Edwards 
207  Collins 
207  Collins 

Prospect  Avenue 

Prospect  Avenue 
154  Main 
472  Main 
Mobile,  Ala. 
31  Trumbull 

432  Main 
207  Sigourney 
207  Sigourney 
Boston,  Mass. 
237  Lawrence 

30  Center 

31  Wooster 
New  Haven 
838  Main 

3  Center 
21  Albany 
17  Chestnut 

134  Albany 

135  Capen 

850  Main 
78  Clark 
78  Clark 
78  Clark 

East  Hartford 
20  Hudson 
90  Wooster 

90  Wooster 
19  Vernon 

Wethersfield 


L.  Feb.  29,  1872 
B.  May  4,  1884 
B.  Feb.  23,  1890 
B.  July  5,  1844 
E.  Feb.  i,  1872 
B.  Mar.  16,  1890 
B.  Aug.  6,  1872 
L.  July  2,  1885 
B.  May  i,  1864 
B.  May  7,  1876 
B.  May  i,  1864 
B.  Feb.  5,  1865 
L.  Feb.  29,  1872 
B.  July  3,  1864 
B.April  i,  1883 

L.  Mar.  13,  1890 
L.  Feb.  4,  1886 
L.  Feb.  4,  1886 
B.  April  2,  1876 
B.  April  2,  1865 
L.  July  3,  1884 
E.  Feb.  2,  1888 
L.  Dec.  2,  1886 
L.  Dec.  4,  1879 
L.  April  5,  1868 
B.  Feb.  5,  1865 
L.  June  i,  1879 
L.  June  i,  1879 
E.  May  3,  1883 
E.  May  3,  1883 
E.  May  3,  1883 
L.  Oct.  5,  1862 
L.  Dec.  4,  1879 
L.  Dec.  4,  1879 
L.  Aug.  30, 1878 
L.  Aug.  30, 1878 
B.  May  17,  1874 
B.  Sep.  5,  1852 
L.  Jan.  4, 1889 
L.  Jan.  4,  1889 
L.  Jan.  4,  1889 
B.  May  i,  1884 
B.  July  3,  1887 


248 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Gabriel,  John         \ 

Gabriel,  Louisa     j 

Gardner,  M.  C.,  widow  of  W.  H. 

Gardner,  G.  A.  (Clark),  wife  of  J.  E. 

Glazier,  Miss  Alice  B. 

Glazier,  Charles  M. 

Glazier,  Clara  M. ,  widow  of  Issac 

Glazier,  Daniel  J. 

Glazier,  Luther  C.  |_ 

Glazier,  Ella  B.  (Brewer)     ) 

Gleason,  Ann  L.,  widow  of  Nelson 

Godsoe,  John  E.      > 

Godsoe,  Rebecca     \ 

Goodman,  A.  A.,  wife  of  D.  A. 

Goodman,  Charles  S.     \ 

Goodman,  Ella  ) 

Gordon,  M.  S.  (Ailing),  wife  of  A.  M. 

Gregg,  Alice  L.,  wife  of  G.  W. 

Green,  Sarah  C.,  wife  of  George  C. 

Griswold,  Cynthia,  widow  of  Ogden 

Griswold,  Eliza  A. ,  widow  of  Caleb 

Griswold,  Miss  Elizabeth  C. 

Griswold,  Miss  Isabella  L. 

Guy,  Albert  ) 

Guy,  Amelia  B.     ) 

Habenstein,  Edward        } 

Habenstein,  Adelia  A.     ) 

Hale,  Lizzie  B.,  wife  of  E.  J. 

Hale,  Lucretia  M.,  widow  of  Junius 

Hale,  Effie  L. 

Hamilton,  D.  E. (Cairns)  wife  of  R.W. 

Hanson,  E.  J.  (Whitney)  wife  of  W.  D 

Harding,  George  B. 

Harmon,  Philip  S. 

Harrington,  G.  B.  (Case)  wife  of  E.  F. 

Harrington,  William  H. 

Harrison,  A.  M.          ) 

Harrison,  Mary  L.     ) 

Harwood,  Kate  W.,  wife  of  F.  A. 

Hatch,  Mabel  L.,  wife  of  C.  B. 

Haynes,  Blanche  F.,  wife  of  A.  S. 

Haynes,  Miss  Jennie  E. 

Hazen,  Miss  Eliza  C. 

Heddrick,  William 

Heintz,  Anna,  wife  of  Philip 

Heintz,  Miss  Lena  E. 


202  Barbour 

E.  Dec.  30,  1873 

" 

B.  Mar.    2,  1875 

24  Trumbull 

B.  Apr.    2,  1865 

502  Main 

B.  June   i,  1884 

212  Collins 

B.  Apr.  21,  1886 

67  Edwards 

B.  Apr.  21,  1878 

67  Edwards 

L.  Apr.   4,  1  86  1 

Middletown 

B.  Apr.  21,  1878 

212  Collins 

B.  Apr.    5,  1863 

" 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

868  Main 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

Winsted 

L.  Apr.    4,  1873 

" 

L.  Oct.    4,  1877 

San  Jose,  Cal. 

B.  July  10,  1853 

Oakland,  Cal. 

L.  Mar.    2,  1882 

" 

L.  Feb.  28,  1884 

Plymouth 

B.  Feb.    6,  1887 

165  Capen 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

21  Grand 

E.  Jan.  30,  1890 

6  Belden 

B.  Apr.  29,  1838 

916  Main 

B.  Nov.   4,  1868 

6  Belden 

B.  Apr.    2,  1848 

6  Belden 

B.  May    2,  1858 

90  Edwards 

L.  Sep.    5,  1  886 

" 

L.  Sep.    5,  iSS6 

119  Wethersfield 

B.  Mar.    5,  1865 

L.  Aug.  30,  1867 

2  Linden  Place 

B.  Jan.    i,  1865 

2  Linden  Place 

B.  Feb.  28,  1845 

2  Linden  Place 

B.  Mar.  30,  1890 

r.  Memphis,  Tenn. 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

).  44  Wooster 

B.  June  2,  1878 

225  High 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

New  York  City 

B.  June   4,  1882 

'.  56  Capitol  Avenue 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

72  Hopkins 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

New  London 

L.  Feb.  13,  1890 

" 

L.  Apr.    3,  1890 

22  Williams 

L.  Nov.    4,  1886 

693  Main 

L.  Nov.  29,  1889 

83  Buckingham 

L.  Feb.   4,  1886 

83  Buckingham 

B.  Dec.  22,  1889 

58  Church 

B.  Oct.  24,  1886 

40  Fairmount 

B.  Mar.  30,  1884 

57  Wooster 

L.  June  4,  1881 

57  Wooster 

B.  Feb.    9,  1890 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Henipstead,  Jennie  M.,  wife  of  L. 
Hickmott,  Lillie  F.,  (Palmer)  wife 

of  Geo.  F. 
Higley ,  Sarah  A. ,  widow  of  Ly- 

man  O. 

Hill,  Helen  L.,  widow  of  J.  T. 
Hill,  Howard 
Hill,  Miss  Mary 
Hill,  Mary  E.,  wife  of  W.  D. 
Holbrook,  Anna  E.  (Nelson),  wife 

of  C.  M. 

Holbrook,  David  W.       > 
Holbrook,  Jenisha  A.      } 
Hollis,  Miss  Clara  W. 
Holt,  Moses  P.     I 
Holt,  Mary  } 

Hosmer,  William  H.     ) 
Hosmer,  Fannie  E.        ) 
House,  Miss  Eugenia 
Houston,  Mary  D» 
Howard,  Miss  Edith  M. 
Howard,  Harry 
Howard,  James  L.  ) 

Howard,  Anna  G.  (Gilbert)     ) 
Howard,  Miss  Mary  Leland 
Hunn,  George  A.     ) 
Hunn,  Louise.  i 

Huntington,  Eliza  P.,  wife  of  A.  J. 
Hutchinson,  Edward  G. 

Ingle,  Mrs.  Huldah  S.  (Wilson) 
Ives,  Sarah  E.,  widow  of  S.  B. 

Jackson,  Miss  Mary  C. 
James,  Henry  H. 
James,  J.  S.  ) 

James,  Anna  H.     f 
Jenks,  Carrie  G.,  wife  of  Charles 
Johnson,  Miss  Alice  A. 
Johnson,  Miss  Lydia  M. 
Johnson,  M.  M.  ) 

Johnson,  Helen  L.  (Jackson)     J 
Jones,  Albert  F.     ) 
Jones,  Hattie  L.     f 
Joyner,  Frances.  A.  (Carman),  wife 
of  E.  P. 

Keene,  Emma  J.,  wife  of  G.  M. 
17 


309  Main 

B.  Jan.     i,  1865 

Newton,  Mass. 

B.  Jan.    9,  1881 

432  Main 

L.  Sep.    i,  1887 

54  Barbour 

L.  Apr.   6,  1879 

Windsor  Road 

L.  Jan.  29,  1880 

54  Barbour 

B.  Jan.  31,  1886 

905  Main 

B.  Jan.  16,  1889 

340  Farmington 

B.  Jan.  n,  1852 

20  Alden 

B.  Apr.    i,  1877 

" 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

Mt.  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

L.  Mar.  29,  1883 

Windsor 

L.  Nov.    5,  1882 

" 

L.  Nov.    5,  1882 

17  Alden 

L.  Mar.  4,  1868 

" 

B.  Jan.     i,  1865 

289  Asylum 

L.  Dec.  30,  1886 

1  8  S.  Ann 

L.  Dec.    i,  1887 

67  Collins 

B.  Jan.     4,  1874 

10  John  St. 

B.  Mar.   4,  1883 

67  Collins 

B.  Jan.  17,  1841 

" 

B.  May  13,  1838 

67  Collins 

B.  June    2,  1878 

ii  1-2  Clinton 

L.  Apr.    3,  1879 

" 

B.  Dec.  22,  1889 

195  Albany  Av. 

B.  Jan.  29,  1843 

234  High 

L.  Feb.  27,  1890 

152  Allyn 

L.  July    2,  1885 

98  Edwards 

B.  July    i,  1855 

Hinsdale,  Mass. 

B.  Mar.  28,  1886 

1  02  Ann 

L.  Nov.  29,  1889 

1  02  Ann 

L,  Nov.  29,  1889 

L.  Nov.  29,  1889 

East  Hartford 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

East  Hartford 

B.  Jan.  26,  1890 

55  Grove 

L.  Feb.    6,  1848 

72  Pearl 

L.  June  3,  1880 

" 

B.  Jan.  ii,  1880 

6  Russell 

L.  Feb.  28,  1877 

*  * 

L.  Feb.  28,  1877 

Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

B.  May    i,  1852 

Alma,  Kansas 

B.  May    i,  1859 

250 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Kellogg,  Lydia  M. ,  wife  of  E.  N. 
Kellogg,  Miss  Mary  Bertha 
King,  Adeline  C.,  widow  of  James 
King,  Angeline  E.,  widow  of  D.  W. 
King,  Miss  Erne 

King,  Minnie  L.,  wife  of  Chas.  H. 
Krug,  Maggie  A.,  wife  of  F.  C. 

Lachlan,  Miss  Lilias 

Lamphere,  George  O. 

Lane,  Clara  W.  (Williams),  wife  of 

John  S. 

Lane,  Jennie  E.,  wife  of  W.  A. 
Lathrop,  Miss  Jennie  T. 
Lathrop,  Mary  A.,  wife  of  T.  S. 
Leake,  Miss  Lulu 
Lester,  Miss  Annie  E. 
Lester,  Ellen  A.,  wife  of  Julius  M. 
Lester,  Emma  F.,  wife  of  H.  H. 
Lester,  G.  A.,  wife  of  C.  E.  W. 
Lester,  Miss  Julia  M. 
Litchfield,  A.  W.,  widow  of  Elias 
Litchfield,  John  G. 
Litchfield,  Thomas  J. 
Lodge,  Eula  I.,  wife  of  W.  B. 
Loomis,  Miss  Carrie  H. 
Loomis,  Hezekiah 
Lord,  Nettie  E.,  wife  of  Joseph 
Loveland,  Lydia  J. 
Loveland,  Mary  E.,  wife  of  H.  E. 
Lynch,  Charles  B. 
Lynch,  Charles  H.     \ 
Lynch,  Elizabeth        \ 
Lynch,  Miss  Fannie  L. 
Lyons,  Ella  M.,  widow  of  Geo.  W. 
Lyons,  William  O.  ) 

Lyons,  Josephine  P.  (Atwood)     ) 

McClintock,  T.  J.,  widow  of  O.  V. 
Me  Clure,  Miss  Carrie  L. 
McClure,  Charles  E. 
Me  Clure,  Leslie  U.  ) 

Me  Clure,  Anna  (Marsh)     ) 
McClure,  Lucy,  wife  of  David  L. 
McDermott,  B.  G.,  wife  of  James 
Me  Ronald,  Mary,  wife  of  Thomas 
Marsh,  Edward  W.     ) 
Marsh,  Addie  ) 


20  Prospect 

L.  Dec.    5,  1847 

49  Chestnut 

B.  Mar.    4,  1852 

519  Farmington 

B.  Feb.  19,  1865 

5  Clinton 

L.  Feb.    5,  1858 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

East  Hartford 

B.  May    i,  1864 

693  Main 

B.  Feb.  27,  1879 

Philadelphia,  Pa. 

L.  Dec.  30,  1875 

Yalesville 

B.  June   3,  1883 

382  Main 

B.  Mar.  19,  1876 

195  Babcock      «• 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

236  High 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

236  High 

L.  Feb.   4,  1864 

Lebanon 

B.  Junei6,  1889 

East  Hartford 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

East  Hartford 

B.  Jan.    6,  1878 

East  Hartford 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

East  Hartford 

B.  June  9,  1867 

Middletown 

B.  Feb.  28,  1858 

40  Buckingham 

B.  Jan.  29,  1843 

31  Gillett 

B.  Apr.  29,  1838 

964  Asylum 

B.  May  13,  1838 

31  Wooster 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

Selma,  Ala. 

B.  Feb.    5,  1865 

644  Main 

B.  May    4,  1884 

Lyme 

L.  Nov.    i,  1872 

East  Hartford 

B.  May    2,  1852 

Thompsonville 

B.  Mar.    2,  1856 

71  Pearl 

B.  Apr.    6,  1884 

71  Pearl 

L.  Apr.    3,  1884 

" 

L.  Apr.   3,  1884 

71  Pearl 

B.  Jan.  31,  1886 

2  Linden  Place 

B.  Dec.    4,  1864 

Elmwood 

B.  July    7,  1867 

" 

B.  June   5,  1864 

New  Haven 

L.  Dec.    2,  1886 

13  East 

B.  Mar.    i,  1874 

234  High  Street 

B.  Feb.  27,  1881 

699  Asylum  Ave. 

B.  Feb.  27,  1881 

" 

B.  Feb.    6,  1887 

13  East 

E.  Mar.   3,  1865 

West  Stockbridge 

B.  Apr.  21,  1878 

692  Main 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

105  Clark 

L.  Apr.  29,  1886 

" 

L.  Apr.  29,  1886 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


251 


Marsh,  Frank  T. 

Marsh,  Mary  I. 

Marsh,  Edena  L. 

Marsh,  Miss  Mamie  M. 

Marshall,  Edwin  D. 

Martin,  Edward  G.      ) 

Martin,  Alice  J.  j 

Martin,  Hattie(Clay),  wife  of  W.  D. 

Martin,  Miss  Louisa  T. 

Martin,  Julia  S.  R.,  widow  of  C.  J. 

Merrill,  Effie  E.   (Hubbard),  wife 

of  L.  D. 

Merrill,  Miss  Elizabeth  L. 
Merrill,  Miss  Ella  S. 
Merrill,  Thurlow  B.     ) 
Merrill,  Ellen  S.  f 

Merriman,  C.  J.,  widow  of  J.  E. 
Merritt,  Edwin 

Miller,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  A.  C. 
Miller,  Fannie  G. 
Miller,  Florence  I.,  wife  of  C.  B. 
Miller,  Joseph  A.      J 
Miller,  Anna  L.        \ 
Miller,  Marietta,  widow  of  E.  B. 
Miner,  A.  M.,  wife  of  Orlando  H. 
Miner,  Miss  Maida  L. 
Moore,  James  R.  R.      j 
Moore,  Annie  M.  $ 

Morrow,  William  J. 
Morse,  Emma  (Clay),  wife  of  W.  I. 
Morse,  Miss  Emma  M. 
Morse,  Miss  Hattie  G. 
Morse,  Harriet  L. ,  widow  of  J.  H. 
Munyan,  Chester  G.     ) 
Munyan,  Angie  K.        ) 
Munyan,  Sarah,  widow  of  George 
Myers,  Henry       ) 
Myers,  S.  J.  C.     f 
Myers,  Laura,  wife  of  Wm.  W. 
Myers,  Miss  Lulu 

Newton,  Nancy,  wife  of  Charles 

Olcutt,  Miss  Elizabeth  S. 

Otis,  John  D.          ) 

Otis,  Harriet  N.     f 

Osborn,  L.  M.  (Hale),  wife  of  G.  O. 

Osborn,  Mrs.  John  W. 


105  Clark 

B.  May  25,  1890 

105  Clark 

B.  May  25,  1890 

105  Clark 

B.  May  25,  1890 

Springfield 

L.  July    i,  1886 

108  Hopkins 

L.  Jan.    2,  1890 

39  Capen 

B.  June  29,  1890 

" 

L.  June  26,  1890 

70  Clark 

L.  Nov.  2,  1882 

195  Capen 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

Los  Angles,  Cal. 

R.  Jan.    3,  1841 

8  Central  Row 

B.  Apr.    i,  1877 

46  Collins 

B.  Mar.  16,  1890 

46  Collins 

B.  Mar.  27,  1881 

46  Collins 

L.  Dec.    2,  1880 

" 

L.  Dec.    2,  1880 

Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

B.  Apr.    2,  1852 

7  Webster 

B.  Mar.    6,  1841 

^Etna  Life  Ins.  B. 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

" 

B.  July    3,  1887 

149  Clark 

L.  Feb.    3,  1887 

325  New  Brit'n  Av. 

B.  Apr.    7,  1878 

" 

B.  Apr.  24,  1884 

New  York  City 

B.  Jan.  22,  1865 

432  Main 

L.  Sep.    i,  1887 

432  Main 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

17  Florence 

L.  Nov.    3,  1876 

" 

L.  Fov.   3,  1876 

65  Huyshope  Av. 

B.  Mar.    3,  1878 

114  Lawrence 

L.  Nov.  2,  1882 

22  Chestnut 

B.  Mar.    i,  1874 

22  Chestnut 

B.  Sep.    2,  1883 

22  Chestnut 

B.  Apr.   4,  1869 

37  Gillett 

B.  Jan.     3,  1858 

" 

B.  June   7,  1874 

37  Gillett 

L.  Feb.    3,  1854 

9  Kingsley 

B.  Oct.     4,  1883 

" 

L.  Oct.    4,  1883 

3  Center 

B.  Apr.  17,  1881 

9  Kingsley 

B.  Nov.  6,  1887 

60  Walnut 

L.  Oct.    5,  1862 

New  Park  Av. 

L.  Nov.   5,  1882 

5  Avon 

L.  Feb.    i,  1886 

" 

L.  Feb.    i,  1886 

Kansas  City,  Mo. 

B.  Apr.    6,  1884 

405  Main  Street 

L.  Mar.  27,  1890 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Page,  Miss  Mary 

Page,  Mary  E.(Davis),widow  of  J.B. 

Palmer,  Clarence  L.     ^ 

Palmer,  Mary  B.  J 

Parent,  Abel  D.         {_ 

Parent,  Susan  W.     \ 

Parent,  Arthur  M. 

Parker,  Lizzie  H.,  wife  of  F.  D. 

Parkhurst,  Miss  M.  Adella 

Parkhurst,  Guilford  F.      \ 

Parkhurst,  Miranda          )" 

Pausch,  Albert 

Payne,  Frank  B. 

Pease,  Anna  T.,  wife  of  Albert  A. 

Peck,  Charles  H.     > 

Peck,  Alice  J 

Pendleton,  S.  F.,  widow  of  Rodney 

Perry,  Miss  Maria  M. 

Phelps,  Clarinda,  widow  of  Hum- 
phrey 

Phelps,  Miss  Gertrude  J. 

Phillips,  Maria  B.,  wife  of  H.  G. 

Pierson,  Miss  Emma  E. 

Pierson,  Miss  Julia  A. 

Poindexter,  Lena  L.  (Steinhoff), 
wife  of  Charles  E. 

Pollock,  Benjaim  R.,  Jr.          i 

Pollock,  Hattie  E.  (Briggs)     > 

Prentice,  Mary  M.,  wife  of  F.  I. 

Preston,  Carrie  B.  (Brewer),  wife 
of  L.  S. 

Preston,  Everett  B. 

Pruden,  Albert  J.  j 

Pruden,  Addie  M.  (Sears)     j" 

Rand,  Fred.  K.        i 
Rand,  Emma  M.     \ 
Rice,  Martha  A.,  wife  of  David 
Risley,  Olive,  wife  of  Lucius 
Rivers,  Fannie  M.,  widow  of  J.  H. 
Roberts,  Laura  A.,  wife  of  T.  H. 
Roberts,  Martha  A.,  wife  of  Ozim 
Robins,  Miss  Ann  Elizabeth 
Rosenbluth,  Addie  (Webb),  wife  of 

Edward  S. 

Russell,  Mrs.  Sarah  J. 
Russell,  Westell      ) 
Russell,  Julia  A.     } 


6  Wyllys 

L.  Mar.  23,  1838 

91  Main 

B.  Feb.  19,  1865 

113  Pearl 

B.  Jan.     6,  1878 

" 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

Northampton,  Ms. 

L.  Sep.    i,  1870 

L.  Sep.    i,  1870 

Detroit,  Mich. 

B.  Apr.    2,  1876 

40  Hudson 

B.  Feb.  27,  1876 

25  Bellevue 

B.  May    4.  1884 

25  Bellevue 

L.  Dec.  4,  1879 

" 

L.  Dec.  4,  1879 

20  Belden 

B.  Mar.  24,  1878 

12  Village 

B.  Jan.    4,  1874 

649  Main 

B.  Mar.    3,  1878 

194  Capen 

L.  Apr.  28,  1887 

" 

L.  Apr.  28,  1887 

31  Wooster 

L.  Feb.    2,  1888 

95  Trumbull 

L.  May    5,  1850 

6  1  Church 

L.  Jan.    3,  1868 

Willimantic 

B.  June   i,  1884 

256  Capen 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

24  Canton 

B.  Feb.  27,  1876 

24  Canton 

B.  June   5,  1864 

W.  Hartford 

B.  Feb.    6,  1887 

24  Belden 

B.  Dec.    5,  1886 

" 

B.  June  26,  1887 

490  Farmington 

L.  Dec.   2,  1880 

104  Albany  Av. 

B.  Mar.    i,  1874 

Chicago,  111. 

B.  June   6,  1858 

54  Sumner 

B.  Mar.    5,  1865 

B.  Mar.    i,  1874 

20  John 

B.  Mar.    3,  1878 

" 

B.  Feb.  27,  1876 

45  Morgan 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

East  Hartford 

B.  July    6,  1879 

848  Main 

B.  Jan.    2,  1876 

596  Main 

L.  Mar.    2,  1882 

78  Martin 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

Short  Hills,  N.  J. 

L.  Oct.    2,  1884 

New  York 

L.  Mar.  29,  1883 

4  Pavilion 

B.  Jan.     i,  1865 

4  Pavilion 

B.  Apr.    i,  1832 

" 

B.  Mar.  6,  1868 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


253 


Sanders,  Joseph  C.     ) 

Sanders,  Laura  A.      \ 

Saunders,  Miss  Elizabeth 

Saunders,  H.  Herbert 

Savage,  Anna  C.,  widow  of  Wm. 

Savage,  Miss  Maria  L. 

Scailes,  F.  H.,  wife  of  George  W. 

Scott,  Andrew  D. 

Scott,  Everett  R. 

Scott,  Edith 

Seeley,  William  H.     j 

Seeley,  Phoebe  f 

Sexton,  Miss  Nancy  R. 

Sheldon,  Fidelia  A. 

Sheldon,  Miss  Sarah  M. 

Shepard,  Mrs.  Jennie  E.  (Merritt) 

Shumway,  Clarence  S. 

Shumway,  M.  F.,  widow  of  C.  N. 

Sloane,  Miss  Fannie  J. 

Sloane,  John  ) 

Sloane,  Margery  C.  j 

Sloane,  John,  Jr. 

Sloane,  Laura  P.,  wife  of  Henry  A. 

Sloane,  Miss  Susie  M. 

Sloane,  William  H. 

Smith,  Miss  Amelia  A. 

Smith,  Mrs.  Alice  M.  (Loomis) 

Smith,  Chauncey  G. 

Smith,  Daniel  E. 

Smith,  Helen  M.,  widow  of  D.  G. 

Smith,  Miss  Henrietta  C. 

Smith,  H.  G.  ) 

Smith,  Ariadne  K.     ji 

Smith,  Miss  Inez  J. 

Smith,  Miss  Jennie  J. 

Smith,  Maggie  (Ferguson),  wife  of 

F.  A. 

Smith,  Miss  Millie  L. 
Smith,  Millie  E.,  wife  of  Lyman 
Spafford,  Eugene  H. 
Speirs,  Charlotte  Me  L. 
Speirs,  George  C. 
Speirs,  Marion  A. ,  widow  of  Robt. 
Speirs,  Miss  Marion  B. 
Spencer,  Carnot  O.     ) 
Spencer,  Marie  J.        f 
Spencer,  J.  A.,  wife  of  Brainard 


136  Retreat  Av. 

B.  May  19,  1878 

" 

B.  Apr.  21,  1878 

167  High 

B.  Dec.   6,  1857 

172  Farmington 

B.  Jan.    4,  1874 

35  Windsor 

B.  Feb.  28,  1841 

76  Church 

B.  Feb.  25,  1838 

25  1-2  Florence 

L.  June  30,  1887 

27  Bellevue 

L.  Mar.  13,  1890 

27  Bellevue 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

27  Bellevue 

B.  Mar.  30,  1890 

98  Hopkins 

L.  Apr.    4,  1889 

" 

L.  Apr.    4,  1889 

58  Church 

L.  June  3,  1875 

Middletown 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

287  Collins 

L.  Oct.  29,  1885 

80  Buckingham 

B.  Feb.    5,  1865 

22  Walnut 

B.  Dec.    5,  1886 

22  Walnut 

L.  Feb.    5,  1858 

22  Williams 

B.  Mar.   4,  1883 

22  Williams 

L.  May    3,  1872 

" 

L.  May    3,  1872 

22  Williams 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

26  Williams 

B.  Mar.   2,  1868 

22  Williams 

B.  Apr.  21,  1886 

26  Williams 

B.  Feb.  23,  1890 

35  Pratt 

L.  Dec.    3,  1885 

Denver,  Col. 

B.  Feb.    5,  1865 

105  Ann 

B.  May  13,  1838 

Dover,  N.  H. 

L.  Dec.   3,  1865 

54  Capen 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

30  Washington 

B.  June   5,  1864 

962  Main 

L.  Feb.  19,  1890 

" 

L.  Feb.  19,  1890 

962  Main 

L.  Feb.  19,  1890 

42  Russell 

B.  Dec.  22,  1889 

76  Williams 
42  Russell 
42  Russell 
East  Hartford 
5  Center 
5  Center 
5  Center 
73  Grove 
19  Vernon 

37  Morgan 


L.  July  3,  1884 
B.  Jan.  26, 1890 
L.  Oct  i,  1885 
B.  May  5,  1878 
B.  Apr.  17,  1881 
B.  Apr.  6,  1884 
B.  Feb.  6,  1876 
B.  Aug.  7,  1871 
L.  Mar.  30, 1882 
L.  Mar.  30, 1882 
L.  May  5,  1848 


254 


ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


Spencer,  Lurinda  E.,  wife  of  H.  C. 
Spencer,  M.  B.,  widow  of  Edward 
Starkey,  Miss  Julia 
Steinhoff,  Miss  Henrietta 
Stevens,  Laura,  widow  of  Charles 
Stevens,  L.  S.,  wife  of  Daniel 
Stevens,  Mary  L,  widow  of  O.  B. 
Stone,  Mercy,  wife  of  F.  P. 
Strong,  Adelaide,  widow  of  L.  E. 
Sweeney,  William  E. 
Sweet,  Charles  F.     \ 
Sweet,  Lissa  f 

Sweet,  Miss  Jennie  E. 
Sweet,  Sallie,  wife  of  Henry  T. 

Terry,  Lewis 

Thayer,  Benjamin  E. 

Thayer,  Jane  R.,  wife  of  A.  L. 

Thompson,  A.  C.,  widow  of  Gilbert 

Tilden,  Samuel  D. 

Tracy,  Maria  A.,  wife  of  Trumbull 

Treat,  Ann  E.,  widow  of  Charles 

Treat,  Miss  Kate  C. 

Turnbull,  Frederick  M. 

Turner,  Emeline,  wife  of  M.  C. 

Turner,  Jennie  A.  (Graham),  wife 

of  N.  B 

Turner,  J.  Henry  ) 

Turner,  Catharine  H.     ) 
Turney,  C.  S. ,  widow  of  Edmund 
Tuttle,  Miss  Clara  E. 
Tuttle,  Lizzie,  wife  of  Charles  L. 
Tuttle,  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Twiss,  Miss  Clara  L. 
Twiss,  Herbert  M.     \ 
Twiss,  Lucy  A.  ) 

Twiss,  Marshall  C. 

Upton,  Mary  E.  (Daniels),  wife  of 

C.  H. 

Utley,  George  T.  \ 

Utley,  S.  Adella  (Jackson)  ) 

Vider,  Lottie  E.  (Bradley),  wife  of 
Joseph 

Waghorn,  Elijah  S.  ) 
Waghorn,  Sarah  E.  ) 
Waghorn,  Miss  Lillian  M. 


98  Trumbull 

L.  Jan.  17,  1878 

30  Chestnut 

L.  Dec.    5,  1856 

Rock  Falls 

L.  May    2,  1878 

12  Belden 

B.  Feb.    6,  1887 

140  Maple  Av. 

L.  May    5,  1848 

8  1  Benton 

E.  May    2,  1861 

Warehouse  Point 

B.  May  30,  1841 

Hockanum 

L.  Dec.    5,  1856 

Manchester 

B.  May    6,  1883 

54  Barbour 

L.  June   3,  1886 

115  Sigourney 

L.  May  25,  1879 

" 

L.  May  25,  1879 

22  Blue  Hills  Av. 

B.  June  16,  1889 

22  Blue  Hills  Av. 

E.  Sep.    9,  1877 

48  Capen 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

East  Hartford 

L.  Nov.  8,  1878 

East  Hartford 

B.  June    i,  1852 

68  Clark 

L.  Nov.  2,  1882 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

L.  July    4,  1875 

20  Jefferson 

B.  Apr.   4,  1858 

79  Park 

L.  Aug.  15,  1851 

79  Park 

B.  June  6,  1858 

Somerville,  Mass. 

B.  June   2,  1872 

12  Chapel 

B.  Apr.    i,  1855 

579  Main 

B.  June  30,  1878 

20  Belden 

L.  Jan.  20,  1873 

" 

L.  Jan.  29,  1873 

29  Pratt 

L.  Dec.  30,  1880 

47  Blue  Hills  Av. 

B.  Sep.    2,  1883 

47  Blue  Hills  Av. 

L.  June  6,  1880 

30  Washington 

B.  Apr.    i,  1855 

no  Wooster 

B.  Apr.  21,  1886 

no  Wooster 

L.  Dec.   4,  1879 

" 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

no  Wooster 

B.  Apr.  21,  1886 

Waterbury 

L.  Jan.     7,  1883 

1  6  Vernon 

L.  Mar.  31,  1876 

" 

B.  Mar.    6,  1882 

30  West 

B.  Apr.  23,  1876 

289  Asylum  St. 

L.  May    i,  1890 

" 

L.  May    i,  1890 

289  Asylum 

L.  July    3,  1884 

ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 


255 


80  Church 

B.  Feb.  28,  1858 

661  Main 

B.  Feb.  17,  1856 

Westbrook 

L.  Sep.    5,  1886 

" 

L.  Sep.    5,  1886 

51  Pratt 

L.  Dec.    4,  1879 

Wethersfield 

B.  June  10,  1852 

238  Sigourney 

L.  Aug.  3,  1855 

238  Sigourney 

B.  Mar.  19,  1876 

22  Canton 

L.  May    4,  1890 

Waghorn,  Thomas  E.  289  Asylum  L.  Oct.  29,  1885 

Walker,  Robert  70  Williams  L.  June  3,  1875 

Walker,  Miss  Violet  70  Williams  B.  Apr.    i,  1883 

Ware,  Maria  H.,  widow  of  C.  C.         Rockville  L.  Sep.  29,  1859 

Waterhouse,  Mrs.  Lucy  A.  (Har- 
rington) 

Waterman,  James  H. 
Watrous,  Amos  D.,  Jr.      ) 
Watrous,  Mary  A.  ) 

Watson,  Minnie  E.,  widow  of  G.  L. 
Welles,  Harriet  L.,  wife  of  Martin 
West,  Abbie  A.,  widow  of  Philo 
West,  Frederick  A. 
West,  Susan  W.,  wife  of  W.  B. 
White,  Grace  H.  (Holbrook),  wife 

of  H.  C.  69  Gillett  B.  June  4,  1881 

White,  Maria  E.  (Faxon),  wife  of 

Charles  Windsor  B.  Feb.    4,  1872 

Whitaker,  Joseph  F.  92  Asylum  B.  July    4,  1875 

Whitmore,    Emma   F.    (Pebbles), 

wife  of  E.  W. 

Whittlesley,  Alice  G.,  wife  of  E.  G. 
Wilcox,  Benjamin  F.      \ 
Wilcox,  Charlotte  J.       \ 
Wilcox,  Fannie  (French) 
Wilcox,  George  K.      ) 
Wilcox,  Lizzie  J.         \ 
Wilcox,  Catharine  S. ,  widow  of  L.  S. 
Wilcox,  Clara  Isabelle  (Carpenter), 

widow  of  Herbert  Burnside  L.  Nov.  29,  1878 

Wilcox,  Sarah  F.,  wife  of  Hezekiah   Noank  B.  Mar.    6,  1841 

Wiley,  Lyman  A.      \  60  Wooster  L.  June   4,  1885 

Wiley,  Lydia  D.        i  "  L.  June   4,  1885 

Wiley,  M.  C.  (Bolles),  widow  of  E.  E.   Plainville  B.  Mar.  27,  1881 

Wilson,  Frederick  N.  152  Allyn  B.  June  30,  1878 

Williams,  Henry  G.      )  56  Albany  Av.          B.  Apr.    5,  1874 

Williams,  Jane  L.         \  "  E.  Apr.    2,  1874 

Williams,  Julia  A.  (Charter),  wife 

of  G.  S.  New  York  L.  Dec.    4, 

Williams,  S.  Lizzie,  wife  of  C.  W.       5  Warren  E.  Oct.  21, 

Willis,  Sarah  B.,  widow  of  Hudson     Farmington  Av.        L.  June   i, 
Willson,  Leslie  H.  )  88  Wooster  L.  Apr.  28, 

Willson,  Grace  E.  M.     \  "  B.  Mar.  13, 

Wolsenden,  Ellen,  widow  of  L.  B.      119  Ann  L.  Dec.   4, 

Wolsenden,  Miss  Florence  M.  119  Ann  B.  May  n, 

Wolsenden,  Miss  Ida  M.  119  Ann  B.  May  n, 

Wolsenden,  Miss  Mary  E.  119  Ann  B.  Feb.  28, 


Brandon,  Vt. 
105  Ann 
East  Hartford 

East  Hartford 
East  Hartford 

122  High 

B.  May  17,  1874 
B.  Jan.  22,  1865 
B.  Apr.  18,  1852 
B.  Feb.  17,  1856 
B.  Mar.  13,  1881 
B.  Mar.  6,  1882 
B.  July    7,  1878 
L.  Oct.     i,  1858 

1879 
1886 
1876 
1887 

1881 
1879 
1890 
1890 

1884 


256  ROLL  OF  MEMBERSHIP. 

Woodbridge,  Deodate      J                    East  Hartford  R.  Mar.  4,  1867 

Woodbridge,  Augusta     ^                               "  B.  May  6,  1865 

Woodford,  Miss  Addie  J.                      116  Main  L.  Sep.  i,  1887 

Woodford,  Lucia  J.,  widow  of  V.  L.     116  Main  L.  Sep.  4,1887 

Woodmancy,  Charles  S.                        59  Sigourney  B.  Apr.  7,  1878 

Woodward,  E.  L.  (West)  wife  of  B.  S.  17  Florence  B.  Apr.  4,  1872 

Wright,  Martha,  widow  of  Robert      13  Congress  L.  Dec.  4,  1879 

Zerniko,  Marie                                       Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  L.  Apr.  6,  1884 


MEMBERSHIP  TERMINATED  SINCE  JAN.  IST,  1890. 
By  DEATH, 

1.  Harry  P.  Chapin,  February  23d. 

2.  Eliza  F.  Gilbert,  March  24th. 

3.  Mrs.  Lovina  A.  Parmelee,  June  i2th. 

4.  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Pember,  May. 

5.  Mrs.  Jane  Hayden,  August  ist. 

BY  LETTER. 

1.  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Case,  January  soth. 

2.  Edward  B.  Taylor,  February  igth. 

3.  Mrs.  Grace  B.  Eldridge,  March  6th. 

4.  Charles  R.  Griswold,  March  27th. 

5.  Hattie  L.  Swift,  April  3d. 

6.  Mrs.  Lavinia  Swift,  April  3d. 

7.  (  Charles  E.  Willard,  April  24th. 

8.  1  Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Willard,  April  24th. 

9.  ( William  A.  Chase,  May  ist. 

10.  (Mrs.  Lizzie  F.  Chase,  May  ist. 

11.  Frederick  W.  Marsh,  June  8th. 

12.  Mrs.  Norton,  June  8th. 

BY  ERASURE. 

1.  Mrs.  Hattie  E.  Filley,  January  2oth. 

2.  Mrs.  Georgiana  Kellogg,  January  2oth. 

3.  j  Frank  E.  Clark,  January  2oth. 

4.  1  Mrs.  O.  Adella  Clark,  January  2Oth. 

5.  Mrs.  Mary  B.  Beach,  March  3d. 

Present  membership,     -        -  -  -  584 

Resident  members,        -        ...  482 

Non-resident  members,         -  102 

Male  members,      -.-••-"       -  •  ,  -  180 

Female  members,                   .  .  .  404 

Percentage  of  male  members,  -  -  31 

Percentage  of  female  members,  -  -  69 


